Pork Professor: Niche markets demand pork raised in alternative systems

October 12, 2007 03:05 am

— Niche marketing is an idea we have become familiar with over the last decade, as farmers strive to increase profitability in a way that makes sense for their particular hog operation. For some this has worked quite well as they have been able to tap into consumer desire to purchase pork that has been raised for one or more of the following qualities:
• Antibiotic- and hormone-free
• Locally grown
• Meat quality characteristics such as Berkshire, or a combination of breeds that produce a fatter, more marbled meat.
• Environment and welfare friendly
Niman Ranch Pork Co.
Companies both large and small-but-growing have sprung up during the past few years to supply pork that is raised to meet consumer demand. Niman Ranch Pork is the most widely known company that sells pork into the alternative market arena. It started in 1995, when Paul Willis from Thorton, Iowa, was looking for a way to market natural “free-range” pigs. He met Bill Niman who raised and marketed natural beef in California, and together they decided to team up to sell pork to upscale restaurants and grocery stores. Niman Ranch Pork Co. has grown steadily since that initial meeting. They started by selling about 50 pigs per week to niche markets, and now deliver over 3,000 head per week.
Almost 600 farmers in the Upper Midwest have joined Willis to raise hogs for Niman Ranch. The hogs are raised according to welfare standards established by the Animal Welfare Institute. The pork standards website for the AWI is www.awionline.org/farm/standards/pigs.htm. According to Lori Lyon of Niman Ranch Pork, the company needs more farmers to raise pigs for them, because over the next year the company would like to supply 4,000 pigs per week to meet demand that already exists.
Some farmers in Minnesota have also found niche markets to be a challenging yet worthwhile venue for adding value to pork and other meats raised on their family farms.
Hidden Stream Farm
Eric and Lisa Klein, who operate Hidden Stream Farm with their children near Elgin, have built a successful meat marketing business, by selling pork and other products to restaurants, grocery stores and directly to customers at farmer markets. They are upbeat and look forward to expanding their business. Hogs are raised according to standards established by the AWI. They currently have 50 sows that farrow in an old dairy barn converted to a deep-bedded system using sow joy pens. They finish in hoops, and then have the pigs processed according to needs expressed by their customers. The Kleins will be needing farmers to join them in production and marketing, although slowly during the next year. The preferred genetics for hogs purchased by Hidden Stream Farm is a cross of Yorkshire-Duroc.
Pastures A Plenty Farm & Co.
Jim and Lee Ann VanDerPol, along with son Josh, his wife, Cindy, and their children, are another Minnesota farm family that has worked to develop a successful direct marketing enterprise through their Pastures A Plenty Farm & Co. near Kerkhoven. Over the last six years they have connected with health food stores, grocery stores, restaurants and individual customers throughout western Minnesota and in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. They currently have about 60 sows that farrow in pasture during the summer and in deep-bedded group farrowing and nursery during the winter. They use a mixture of Chester White, Duroc and Berkshire breeds. Demand for their pork products continues to exceed supply, so they will be looking to expand production and marketing during the next year. They would prefer to have farmer partners who are willing to farrow as well as finish pigs.

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