After ten years without hogs on the farm, Jack missed raising pigs and wanted to add more profitability to the farm. He is proud that he raises his pigs naturally, providing them with high-quality feed and raising them without the use of antibiotics or hormones. His choice to raise Animal Welfare Approved pastured pork was a choice to invest in a future in which his sons, Daniel and Jimmy, could make a living on the family farm and people can make better choices about the food they eat. “It would make me feel better to walk into a store and buy meat with the AWA seal,” says Jack. “It gives some piece of mind.”

Like many farmers, it’s a challenge to meet production costs, but Jack hopes that his sons, who work on the farm with him, will choose the hard work required to keep the family business running.

As a Master Herbalist, Christine has been able to apply her knowledge of herbal medicine to the care of her animals. Although there has been a learning curve for an herbalist trained to care for people, she is able to treat her animals almost exclusively with Certified Organic herbal remedies. This is a challenge in Florida’s hot and humid summer weather, which fosters illness and digestive problems, but Christine has found herbal remedies for almost all her animals’ health problems.

Christine, with Jamie’s help and support, continuously works to raise healthy animals because their welfare is of prime importance above profit. “They give a lot,” she says, so taking care of them is central to her operation. Christine’s emphasis on animal welfare led her to Animal Welfare Approved certification, which requires the highest welfare and sustainability practices. Sprawling Oaks Farm’s chickens and goats, says Christine, “receive fresh air and sunshine in the pasture all day and are always given lots of love.” She appreciates that AWA certification gives her “recognition for something [she] is already doing” and communicates to consumers that the dairy and eggs from Sprawling Oaks Farm were raised with the care that their animals deserve.

The most important aspect of Ken’s farming is allowing his pigs to roam freely, foraging and farrowing outdoors. Living outside on pasture permits Hog Heaven Farms’ animals to express their natural behaviors, including their innate sociability. Sows give birth twice a year in their own farrowing huts, on fresh straw, and are only given assistance when needed. The natural, high-quality feed that Ken gives to his hogs is also an important aspect of the operation.

Ken applied for Animal Welfare Approved certification to benefit from AWA’s technical advice about raising livestock in the most natural way. Certification also lends recognition to Hog Heaven Farms, LLC, assuring consumers that they are using the highest-welfare and most sustainable practices possible.

Becoming Animal Welfare Approved was an added marketing tool to communicate the rigorous husbandry practices that Hemmer Hill employs to raise their animals. Joyce is proud of her ability to manage her pastures without the use of pesticides and keep her animals parasite-free without worming. With Gary’s attention to soil health and rain fall, they are able to grow excellent grass and practice rotational grazing, moving their sheep to keep them on the fertile pastures. This can be challenging depending on weather, but it leads to their animals’ superior nutrition and health.

Hemmer Hill registered and pure bred sheep are mostly sold as breeding stock all over the Midwest and East Coast. The Saint Croix sheep is on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy “Threatened” list, meaning that they have a global population under 5,000. While they don’t produce wool, the variety is desired for their easy care, multiple births, and lean meat which many customers prefer over the oily or lanolin-tasting meat that some think wool sheep produce. Customers who would like to buy breeding stock should reserve their lambs ahead of time by calling or emailing Joyce.

Stone Hollow Farmstead uses sustainable, mindful farming practices. It is important to the Stone family to provide a healthy, quality product for their family and for their customers’ families. Stone Hollow Farmstead uses only natural, sustainable ingredients, many of which are grown right on the farm. The farm’s dairy is a certified dairy processing facility, using only Grade A goat milk from their own farm and other local AWA-certified goat dairies.  The milk and cheeses are free of chemicals, antibiotics, and additives.  The goats at Stone Hollow Farmstead live a good life on the farm, browsing 80 acres during the day and sleeping in the barn at night.

Nurturing their hard-working goats according to Animal Welfare Approved’s standards produces a happy and healthy goat – and therefore the best quality goat milk, which Stone Hollow Farmstead uses to create delicious goat cheese for its many loyal customers.

For more information about Stone Hollow Farmstead visit www.stonehollowfarmstead.com.

Palmetto Creek Farms’ transformation since 2004 from a show pig operation to a successful meat quality pastured-based system has required more than skilled breeding. The biggest change was that pigs once residing mostly in the barn were moved to pasture. Sows that used to require help to give birth indoors now farrow outside on their own.  Jim and his family no longer need to clip teeth or tails. While this new system requires more land and labor, as soon as their pigs were moved outside, Jim saw their health problems disappear. “It’s a better way to farm overall,” he says. “The pigs are healthier and I’m happier.”

Having his pigs Animal Welfare Approved validates the high-welfare practices that improved the quality of his pork and set his operation apart from other farms. “I like someone validating what I do every year,” says Jim.  AWA certification has also helped him to continue improving his animals’ welfare by awarding him a good husbandry grant for mobile pig housing, which lets Palmetto Creek Farms’ hogs access the best pastures and shelter.

The marketing of Jim’s pastured pork changed drastically when he was introduced to Kathleen Blake and Scott Copeland, two prominent Florida chefs, in January 2007. Once they tasted the superiority of Palmetto Creek Farms LLC pork, the market for Jim’s meat was established. Now he specializes in serving many of the best chefs in south and central Florida. Aside from the quality of his pork due to years of intentional breeding, Palmetto Creek Farms’ on-farm processing plant allows Jim to provide his customers with the freshest possible product. Pork slaughtered on Monday reaches customers either Tuesday or Wednesday and this freshness is “unbeatable.”

Jim’s journey from raising pigs as a 4H project to a successful and highly respected meat program—controlling his product from conception to delivery—has required the help of many family members and friends. He also says that he “couldn’t have done it without God’s help.”

The Adams are proud to be raising their Rhode Island Red and Black Austrolorp laying hens according to Animal Welfare Approved standards. “It’s like if you had a kid. You want the best. Some people say they’re just chickens, but they’re our chickens. You want to do the best for them. You reap what you sow.” Raising their chickens outdoors and in a “chicken mansion,” making sure they eat well, watching them grow from birth and seeing the AWA auditor’s approval of the farm has been really satisfying for Kim and Cricket.

While farm life is a lot of work, the Adams think it’s a pleasure to be able to bring the public onto Gypsy Ranch. They’ve invited school groups, families, camera crews and seminar attendees onto the farm to learn about sustainable family farming and they welcome the opportunity to keep learning themselves. They want to continue to improve their systems by learning from others and hope to expand their flock of AWA hens to be able to supply their local grocery store with plenty of eggs each week.

Despite the farm’s growth, Kim and Cricket’s intentions have not changed—to make Gypsy Ranch a self-sufficient family operation. Their biggest helpers are two of their five grandchildren, Bella and Hunter, who already know the proper way to carry chickens and will continue to learn as their grandparents continue to improve the family farm.

The Lewises raise Animal Welfare Approved laying chickens and Bue-Lingo beef cattle in an intentional rotational grazing pattern, so that each species works to keep their pastures healthy and balanced. Bue-Lingo cattle are the result of a Black Angus bull and a Dutch Belted Galloway cow, lending the wideness of the Angus breed to the mothering and milking qualities of the Dutch Belted Galloway. They are proud that their animals, which live birth through harvest on pasture, are never sick. When they first heard about the Animal Welfare Approved certification, they were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to follow all of the detailed and rigorous standards required.  Once they studied the whole program, however, Melissa says they realized they “were already doing most things and wanted [their] customers to know.” Although using organic practices on the farm is important, “letting people know what you do with your animals is the most important thing.” Concerned about all of the false labeling claims that consumers are confronted with, Melissa and Larry are proud that they their assertions are backed up by a label with integrity and clarity.

Larry and Melissa say they feel “blessed to be able to share the extra that God provides us with our local community.” Ittle Bitty Farms’ products can be bought at the farm’s store and from local farmers’ markets. The farm’s facebook page, Ittle Bitty Farms, Red House, WV, is updated weekly with produce and meat availability. Please contact them by phone or email for information about delivery.

Quiet Acres Farm offers tours by appointment, and customers enjoy seeing the farm’s working dogs – including herding dogs and three breeds of livestock guardian dogs: an Anatolian Shepherd, an Akbash and a Maremma. The dogs naturally bond to the sheep and protect them from predators. For more information about Quiet Acres Farm visit www.QuietAcresFarm.com.