Pastured Pork: Economics of Intensive Grazing in the Western United States

View the project report

Commodities

• Animals: swine

Practices

• Animal Production: feed/forage, grazing management, grazing - rotational, manure management, rangeland/pasture management
• Crop Production: irrigation

This project will test the viability of producing pork on pastures, bucking a national trend toward corporate pork production. John Currey, co-owner of family-owned CR Pigs, says the project team will test stocking rates and supplemental feed consumption of pigs grown on rotated pastures at different stages of growth. This will provide key pasture production data for irrigation cycles, grazing cycles, feed values and manure decomposition at different times of the year. The resulting data will provide the groundwork to establish stocking rates and intensive grazing rotations throughout the Western region. Properly managed, the pastured pork operation will be profitable and, at the same time, reduce the threat of off-farm impacts on surface waters and the odors typically associated with large commercial hog farms.