Here at Singing Prairie Farm, one question consistently arises during conversations about our pasture-raised pigs.

That question, in one form or another, is, “Is it reasonable for a pig to graze like a cow — and eat mostly grass — for the bulk of its nutrition?”

The short answer to this query is “no.” But, digging deeper, this question ties into some of the complex issues about modern farming that we are trying to solve on our farm.

There are a number of reasons pigs shouldn’t eat grass (or grains) alone: Biology, access to forage, and more. Pigs, unlike cows, have traditionally enjoyed some natural grains as part of their diet.

There are, however, long-term effects that need to be discussed in term of the implications for finding a happy medium for pigs to eat naturally. These include the complexities of reading the land, managing forage mixes, and the impact of mobile fencing technologies. Approaching the topics of how best to feed pigs will, to our mind, reclaim the genetics that was so common in pigs prior to World War II.

While it benefits all pigs to consume some grass, the degree to which they do is also important to examine. 

We’ve been asked consistently why we don’t just feed our pigs tons of grass, like those raising grass-fed cattle have been doing.

It turns out a pig has a digestive system much like a chicken, a single stomach. This contrasts to cows, which have four stomachs — or four stomach compartments, depending on who you ask.

The cow can break down high-fiber foods as a result of the beneficial bacteria residing in the first stomach compartment, the rumen, hence their animal classification as “ruminants.” Those beneficial bacteria are able to dismantle the fiber in grass to the point where the rest of the digestive system can extract carbohydrates from the matrix.

Lacking that particular superhero power puts our friend, the humble pig, at a significant disadvantage when compared to a cow’s ability to consume grass.

But wait! This does not mean it is impossible for pigs to receive the same benefits as cows do by eating grass.

Here on our family farm, we have undertaken numerous projects to find the tipping point for how much grass is feasible to ensure we have happy, healthy pigs. We’ve discovered a wide-range for what works; pigs can consume non-grain natural feeds that can range from 10% forage consumption all to the way to our permaculture specific herd which consumed 90% forage — I will talk more on this group of rock stars in a later essay!

Overall, the takeaway is that pigs on pasture still need some grain. That doesn’t mean that we can’t keep exploring pathways to get heritage-breed pigs simply to eat MORE grass.

For starters, appropriate genetics and animal history is a must. Taking a white pig out of its indoor factory farm and putting it in a grassy field with no grain would not yield a happy, thriving pig. The mystery of genetics is that the traits that will lead to pigs successfully consuming a better mix of grass and grain aren’t information available on the surface. Length of the digestive system, the ability to host a small amount of beneficial bacteria in the hindgut, and the eagerness to graze are traits that will lead to a beneficial experience for any pig on pasture. Most heritage-breed pigs still have some of these genes intact — unfortunately, many breeds lost them with the influx of factory farming.

Another important variable to the success of including a better grass to grain ratio in a pig’s diet is the farmer’s management plan.

Our favorite system, which we’ve been most successful with involves running pigs in groups of 35 to 50. These pigs are all born at about the same time of year and are half-siblings. They grow up together running around the woods like wild boars — luckily, they are more even-tempered. Once out on their own, these young pigs, called feeder pigs, are rotated into a large rectangular pasture. The boundaries of this pasture are made up of a movable solar electric fence system complete with special fence posts. We pull up the posts and move them every seven days. The hot wire (not in temperature, but the small electric charge) has a windup reel loaded with a spool of braided wire and plastic filaments. This tool that holds the hot wire looks remarkably like an enormous deep sea fishing reel.

Within this temporary pasture, there is a movable waterer, many moveable feeders, as well as a 20-foot by 30-foot shade structure that is also on wheels.

Our shade structures are homemade contraptions which consist of a welded frame built on a hay wagon base. We span the frame with woven greenhouse shade cloth, so the animals always have shade and nothing to prevent the breeze from cooling them in the summer. Every day we move the shade structure to new fresh grass within the temporary pasture.

We do the same thing with the feeders so that at the end of a seven day period, the entire field has been evenly grazed and manured. This is referred to as positive animal impact, meaning the grass will grow back even thicker than before.

On the first day of each week, we hitch up a large Percheron draft horse and drag the shade structure, along with all the feeders and waterers to a completely new location. It is usually at least 60 days before the animals return to a spot they’ve already been for a second graze.

Whenever we string up a new electric fence, open the gate, and run the entire herd onto new ground, they are always eager to go. The lure of fresh grass, the clank of their feeders moving, the sound of water running into their trough is irresistible, and soon all 50 pigs are on fresh ground and nibbling green tender shoots of grass and clover.

This is the secret sauce to creating the best pork ever:  A large herd of grazing animals, tightly grouped, and constantly moving over clean ground is nature’s template for sequestering carbon, rewilding grasslands, and creating good nutritional profiles for the meat.

I hope you enjoy the fruit of our labors.

John Arbuckle is the founding farmer of Singing Prairie Farms, producer of  Roam Sticks often featured in our monthly ButcherBox.