Our Farm & Philosophy

Farming in Northern MN

Northern Minnesota is very different from the rest of the lower 48. This winter we saw 6 months of snow cover this year, and we had over 150 inches of snow. Skinny, pink pigs are not going to thrive outside in this environment. Which is why we don’t raise any skinny pink pigs.

Our Pigs

Animal Husbandry

We are a farrow to finish hog farm. Our pigs live here their entire lives. We think this is best from a biosecurity and animal welfare standpoint. We have always been Prop 12 compliant, with both pasture and pen farrowing. Once sows reach a mature status they can farrow in the field, but the gilts and younger sows farrow in a barn with 6’ by 8’ bedded stalls with a creep area for the piglets. Piglets typically remain with the sow for 4-6 weeks, and then are weaned.

Weaning is one of the most stressful times in an animal's life. They lose their maternal immunity from their mothers milk, and are thrown into a brave new world. After weaning, we will combine several litters into a sounder of 24 piglets that heads straight to the pasture. They will become a gang that will stay together their entire lives. We start each sounder in a 30’ by 60’ pen that has their food, water, wallow, and shelter. The goal is to make sure that the sounder views that pen as their safe space, where they can meet all of their basic needs. This is important because you always want the pigs to have a home base that they can return to. 

After settling in for 72 hours, we start the process of fence training by lining the inside of their pen with a strand of polywire powered by a Gallagher S12 fence energizer. They will quickly figure out that they don’t want anything to do with that polywire. After a few days of fence training, we open up the pen, and give them a “bubble” of pasture outside of their pen with the polywire electric fence. Each week, we make their bubble a little larger, and move that bubble around their pasture. This spreads the impact of pigs around on the landscape and builds soil health. Once winter hits and the pigs get big, they move to a deep bedded, 3 sided barn with a 5 acre sandbox in the back for them to stretch their legs and express their natural behaviors.

Cozy Patrol

Cozy Patrol occurs at Y-ker Acres twice a day, and is generally described as vibe checking that every pig has adequate food, water, and shelter. Words of affirmation and often, the yodeling of a Herdsman assures these pigs have a full existence.

Our Breeds

We raise thick, hairy pigs that are well adapted to outdoor living in one of the harshest climates in the lower 48. We do this by cross breeding from old stock lines of heritage breeds, and selecting the most precocious animals as replacement breeding stock. Our foundation pig breeds are Tamworth, English Large Black, Red Wattles, Mangalitsa, Duroc and Hampshire. Twenty generations later, we have created Superior Ranch Hogs. Our pigs are exceptionally well adapted animals that are raised on country sunshine and roll in the dirt everyday, which is what mother nature intended.

Mangalitsa

The woolly pig, the Mangalitsa is a fascinating breed. They look like a pig in sheep-wool clothing. They are the hardiest of them all. They often sleep in the snow and often farrow in the field. They are very close to a wild pig. They are so hairy, you can brush them! They LOVE to be brushed. Mangalitsa’s thrive in a forest setting and prefer the outdoors. They take a little longer to warm up to you, but when they do ... they demand your attention. The piglets are born with TONS of hair that look very similar to a wild boar with these beautiful stripes. Mangalitsa piglets are fast, independent, and stick very close to their mother. They love to explore and sometimes like to sleep in the tall grass which can make finding them hard!

Large Black

We fell in love with the droopy ears of the Large Blacks and their docile personality. Like their name, they have beautiful dark skin with durable, glossy black hair. Their ears cover their face. When you pull up their ears they have adorable wrinkles around their soft, brown eyes. They have a lower jaw that is narrow and have funny bottom teeth. Their bodies are long (they have an extra set of ribs) and have a droopy butt. The sows are excellent nest builders and take farrowing (birthing of piglets) very seriously. Because of their black color they love to lay in the sun in the winter and are quite hardy. They really like having their “buddies” close. They are quite stubborn, change is not their favorite thing. They don’t like being moved to a new pasture, they don’t like new neighbors, and they don’t like strangers feeding them. They are dedicated to the consistent people in their lives and they make us laugh.

Tamworth

The Tamworth breed is a stocky, red pig with perky ears. They have coarse, thick hair that allows them to withstand our Minnesota winters. They are a playful breed that demands attention. Scratching behind their ears is their biggest joy. They like to chat with you and will look you straight in the eye. The sows are excellent mothers and can put up with very feisty piglets. Tamworths are an overall good-natured pig. Our boar, Big Bear, is a Tamworth. His name fits him perfectly ... he is BIG! He is a big baby that weighs over 900+ pounds. He has a BIG personality and a BIG heart.