# Looking for organic hog feed



## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

Hi people, Im looking for organic hog feed. Ive been doing alot of this lately :kung: and i have found a few companies that sell it but i was wondering every body else mite use and if you have dislikes or like what your using. 
I had a few people call and ask for organic pork but we cant find the organic feed in my area. Plus i can get a premium price for organic to,One lady told me that she usually pays $300 and up for a whole hog thats organic. 
Any help or ideas where to find it would be great, Thanks people. Tim

And yes i know i will have to have it shipped to me


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## Malena (Mar 29, 2011)

I'm lucky to have Countryside Organics nearby in Waynesboro, VA. They sell feed that is not only organic, but soy-free also. 

http://www.countrysideorganics.com/


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## CollieFlowerWV (Jun 28, 2010)

Organic feed is too high for us. But we did find a place-about five hours drive-one way that has gmo free feed. So we use this. Here are some websites that I have found. Not sure if any of them would be good for you. I still search out for organic, at times.

http://www.farmers.coop/resources/feed-mills-and-suppliers/

http://www.organicfeeds.com/statefinder.php


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## rustyfordgarage (Oct 4, 2011)

Don't know how far you are from Burlington, CO but this place has a dealer listed there

http://www.ranch-way.com/products/organic-feed/ranch-way-easy-feed-organic-pig-starter

I guess I'm lucky, I can get organic feed at my local feed store for only a few dollars more a bag than commercial medicated feed.


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## Brooks WV (Jul 24, 2010)

We also use countryside. Great customer service, reasonable shipping, and they will custom mix just about anything you want. We have organic GOS's and used the feed over the winter.


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## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

Sweet, Thanks every body. I plan on separating 2 bred gilts from the rest of our herd and start feeding them organic feed and keep them on it. The liters will stay on organic feed untill i can get them on a pasture we rented.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Tim, do you have the ground you could grow your own feed, we plant non gmo corn and even open pollinated corn, barley, wheat, spelt and rye. We also feed hogs for the organic market, but we grow most of our own grain. Plus we give milk from the dairy herd as our protein and fat in the ration. > Marc


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

We use Countryside for broiler, rabbit and used to for goats but not for goats anymore. When we move I want a couple of pigs so I guess we'll use them for pigs, too!


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## Lazy J (Jan 2, 2008)

RW kansas hogs said:


> Sweet, Thanks every body. I plan on separating 2 bred gilts from the rest of our herd and start feeding them organic feed and keep them on it. The liters will stay on organic feed untill i can get them on a pasture we rented.


If you do this, then you can easily say the pigs are Organically FED. You can't call them Organic since you are neidhter certified nor are you attempting to become certified.

Were I in your situation, I would rather sell the merits of your operation by telling the story of why and how you raise your pork than worrying about the Organic definition of your pigs.

Jim


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## Brooks WV (Jul 24, 2010)

Jim,

If I read it correctly, you can, in fact, sell as "organic" provided you sell less than $5,000/yr. You need to be USDA certified to sell above that limit or claim "certified" organic. Perhaps I'm just pig headed, but I refuse to pay the government to use a word they do not own. 

~Mark


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## Lazy J (Jan 2, 2008)

Brooks WV said:


> Jim,
> 
> If I read it correctly, you can, in fact, sell as "organic" provided you sell less than $5,000/yr. You need to be USDA certified to sell above that limit or claim "certified" organic. Perhaps I'm just pig headed, but I refuse to pay the government to use a word they do not own.
> 
> ~Mark


Mark, you are correct that you can sell Organic without certification if your gross sales are less than $5000, but to do so you must also follow all the requirements for organic certification. What the OP proposes, simply segregating pigs and feeding them "Organic Feed", is not sufficient to be called Organic according the the NOP and the individual certifying agencies.

Jim


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## sticky_burr (Dec 10, 2010)

we have a feed compaany in state that sells organic feed for many animals northern most feeds a mere 281 miles away one way


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

RW kansas hogs said:


> Hi people, Im looking for organic hog feed. Ive been doing alot of this lately :kung: and i have found a few companies that sell it but i was wondering every body else mite use and if you have dislikes or like what your using.
> I had a few people call and ask for organic pork but we cant find the organic feed in my area. Plus i can get a premium price for organic to,One lady told me that she usually pays $300 and up for a whole hog thats organic.
> Any help or ideas where to find it would be great, Thanks people. Tim
> 
> And yes i know i will have to have it shipped to me


Another way is to buy your corn etc. from organic farmer and have a mill prepare it for you. I have winter wheat and rye planted now. I may have a mill grind it or i may get a mill and grind it myself. If you do plan on planting a crop have your soil tested and go from there. Selling organic is not that much trouble and you can get a good price for your pork. 

Good luck,
Gerold.


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## Lazy J (Jan 2, 2008)

gerold said:


> Selling organic is not that much trouble and you can get a good price for your pork.
> 
> Good luck,
> Gerold.


Selling organic is easy if you ignore the rules.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

Lazy J said:


> Selling organic is easy if you ignore the rules.


 For me selling good organic pork is the way to go. Selling good breeding stock is also the way to go.


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## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

We dont plan on having our farm certified organic we just want to feed one or two liters organic feed so the buyer is happy knowing that they are supplemented with organic feed over the winter and while on pasture. 
We dont have the acreage for growing our on feed yet but we buy corn from local farmers, Whe are switching over to milo when we use all the corn.


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## bruceki (Nov 16, 2009)

RW, I'm getting the impression that if you kinda-sorta follow the organic rules you think that you're organic. Maybe only follow the rules you like, and kinda make the rest up as you go along? 

That's not how it works. 

Bruce / ebeyfarm.blogspot.com


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## povertyknob (Feb 24, 2011)

RW I totally get where you're going with it. Not really interested in getting "certified organic" (me neither). But for some buyers, the knowledge that the pig was fed "certified organic" feed makes them feel alot better. Way to go for responding to your customers needs.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

RW kansas hogs said:


> We dont plan on having our farm certified organic we just want to feed one or two liters organic feed so the buyer is happy knowing that they are supplemented with organic feed over the winter and while on pasture.
> We dont have the acreage for growing our on feed yet but we buy corn from local farmers, Whe are switching over to milo when we use all the corn.



Sounds good. I was thinking about planting some Milo and some more wheat.


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## Lazy J (Jan 2, 2008)

gerold said:


> Sounds good. I was thinking about planting some Milo and some more wheat.


If you feed grain grown on your farm without organic certification then you can not say "Organically Fed". Which brings me back to my suggestion to the OP, simply tell your story and explain how your pigs are fed. Chasing the Organic Thing can be an expensive, frustrating affair.

Jim


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

Lazy J said:


> If you feed grain grown on your farm without organic certification then you can not say "Organically Fed". Which brings me back to my suggestion to the OP, simply tell your story and explain how your pigs are fed. Chasing the Organic Thing can be an expensive, frustrating affair.
> 
> Jim


Good advice Jim.

Best,
Gerold.


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## Nicole Irene (Jun 12, 2011)

You can also see if your customer really wants organic or all natural. I am trying to do all natural: no antibiotics, no hormones, no gmo's. To do this, I bought local rice (we don't do gmo rice because Japan threatened to drop us like a lead balloon if we did) and had to go with organic soy to avoid the gmo's. It was a much cheaper compromise than 100% organic (which is 44 cents per pound for bulk feed in my area). Personally, I would love to drop the soy, but don't know of a good protein source.


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

Nicole Irene said:


> You can also see if your customer really wants organic or all natural. I am trying to do all natural: no antibiotics, no hormones, no gmo's. To do this, I bought local rice (we don't do gmo rice because Japan threatened to drop us like a lead balloon if we did) and had to go with organic soy to avoid the gmo's. It was a much cheaper compromise than 100% organic (which is 44 cents per pound for bulk feed in my area). Personally, I would love to drop the soy, but don't know of a good protein source.


Many different ways to go all natural or 100 percent organic.
You are right in going with what the customer requires.
If organic with the USDA go with 100% label,95% organic ingredients, or even 70% or less organic ingredients. 
Without the USDA organic label you can get your pork organic certified by different private companies. Than you would use a private company organic certified seal on your product.
You state you are doing business with Japan. You will have to follow their rules to the T. or they can reject any product you sent them even after you ship it to them. You really have to know who you are dealing with in Japan.
Example: Had a close friend in Fl. in the citrus business. He had a contract to sell citrus to Japan. He was in the USDA program to inspect his citrus at all levels before shipment. He decided he didn't want USDA employee into his grove to inspect citrus. Japan dropped him in a minute.


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## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

Our goal is to pasture the hogs when the pasture is ready to go, But i thought about having a feed supplement available for them as a free choice as well. This is where the organic feed comes in, Pasturing hogs takes for ever to get to market weight so i thought about adding the free choice feed to help them get to market weight. I will have to call the local co-op tmrw and see what they have for all natural grains.


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## bruceki (Nov 16, 2009)

I don't know of any pastured pork producer of any size that isn't providing free-choice food to their hogs

I wrote a couple of entries with links to videos about Joel Salatins hog operations at polyface a day or two ago. You'll find that here. 

I also wrote and linked to a video of a farm that was doing testing planting fields and then putting pigs out to graze the planted fields -- to see if the pasture made any difference in weight gain. You'll find that writeup here. 

Both Joel and Cornerstone farms provide a prepared feed to their hogs. 

Bruce / ebeyfarm.blogspot.com


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## RW kansas hogs (Nov 19, 2010)

Thanks Collieflower, I did find a company in Neb. that sells organic grains and feed stuff. I talked to a guy and he is going to email me a list of feed choices for me, I know we wont be using organic corn, Its $12.50 a bushel & organic soy bean meal is $ 950 a ton. 
The good part is that the company is close enough that we can drive up and pick it up in bulk so that will save some $ if we go that route.


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## CollieFlowerWV (Jun 28, 2010)

We felt that if we could not afford organic that non-gmo would be a good choice. I am always looking for a new source-never hurts to have a backup. Wish you well with your livestock.


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