Free range pork and pastured pigs

Here are a few things to consider before you go shopping, to prevent a bacon dilemma.

While we know that chicken welfare can be poor, knowledge of the plight of pigs is not so common. Like their feathered friends, the great majority of pigs in Australia are raised intensively indoors. This means they are unable to exhibit their natural behaviours, that is, to explore, forage or nest. They are also subject to painful procedures like tail docking and teeth clipping.

Simply put, a pig can't express the pigness of a pig!

And while all of the fresh pork sold in Australian is locally grown, more than 75 per cent of our smallgoods are imported. There's the risk of superbugs with routine antibiotics and cancer with over-consumption, so repeat after me, "bacon is for special occasions". Buy the good stuff and you won’t go back.

But what makes pork delicious? They say it's a combination of the pig's breed, diet and low stress levels. However the breeds that provide sweet, succulent meat—Berkshires, Large Blacks, Wessex Saddlebacks, Tamworths and more—are close to extinct. In 1995, there were only 50 Wessex Saddleback sows (mother pigs) in the world. In 2011, there were only 12 Hampshire sows registered in Australia and under 150 Large Blacks and Tamworths. If you want to save their bacon, seek registered purebred pigs, or better still, raise them yourself.

Free-range? Check. Australian? Check. Heritage? Check.

But wait... there's more!

Recently, the Australian pork industry developed industry standards with definitions and labelling for free range, outdoor bred: raised indoors on straw, and indoors. Now, you must ask yourself, does this meet your standards? What if the pork is labelled "free range" but there are tens of thousands of pigs on the farm, as far as the eye can see? Are you happy with the stocking density? What about the use of hormones, growth promotants or routine antibiotics?

To help you buy better porkage for your forkage, I've listed farms with pigs that are raised on pasture their entire lives. Ask the farmer questions if you have any concerns, and if you're still not sure, seek animal welfare or organic certification.

Look for these brands at farmers’ markets and local independent stores near you. Taste the difference and tell your friends!

Contribute: Do you know a farm that should be here? Email info@flavourcrusader.com for inclusion. Learn about the directories.

NSW QLD ACT VIC SA WA NT TAS

NSW

Boxgum Grazing, Windermere
Sam and Claire Johnson are passionate about land management, regenerative agriculture, local employment and producing excellent food. Their sows build a nest to farrow their piglets; after six weeks, the piglets are weaned and moved to the woodland.

Brooklet Springs Farm, Brooklet
Georgina Goddard and Morgan Wilkie feed their heritage pigs a mix of museli from Brookfarm and organic supplements (like biochar and safflower protein) from a local certified organic stock feed mill.

Bundarra Berkshires, Barham
Lauren and Lachy Mathers’ farm philosophy is based on ethical, chemical- and stress-free practices and improving the soil. They raise their pigs in the paddock their entire lives; the pigs eat crops, pasture, grains, minerals, avocados and forage in the forested areas.

Dewsbury Free Range Pork, Quialago
Ebony Garner and Eli Bailey breed Duroc, Hampshires, Tamworths and Wessex Saddlebacks. The pigs are raised entirely outdoors from birth until sale, with access to wallows, water, shelters and shade. They rotate the pigs in the paddocks regularly to reduce disease and parasites, recuperate ground cover and grow forage crops.

Esperenza Farm, Corndale
Susana and Jerrod Henderson raise Large Black and Berkshire pigs. They keep the pigs in family group as they grow. The farmers aim to provide community based agriculture where locals and visitors can buy premium pork direct from the farmer and know that the animals are raised in an ethical way.

Figtree Organics, Inverell and Grafton
The pigs free range year round with access to high quality organic pastures. Free to exhibit their natural behaviours, they cool off in a mud bath and sleep under the shade of a big yellow box gum or Moreton Bay Fig tree.

Free Range Butcher, Barraba
Ben Cinch and his family rotate Landrace, Large White and Durocs on paddocks. They also feed them pellets, and if the season allows, they finish them on pastures of oats, lucerne or sorghum. More flavoursome than intensively farmed pork, with decent fat⁠—good crackling! They also source Oakleigh Pasture Pork.

Green Connect Illawarra, Warrawong
This Wollongong-based not-for-profit social enterprise free range their pigs on their 11-acre urban permaculture farm. They employ young people and former refugees.

Happy Pig, O’Connell
Helen and Grant Barton‘s pigs roam freely over 600 acres. The pigs have shelter, fresh water, dams to wallow and mud for play. They live in a mixed farming enterprise, blending in with the sheep, lambs and horses.

Hayter’s Hill, Byron Bay
Hugh and David Trevor-Jones’ pigs live their entire life outdoors, with shade and shelter provided. The pigs are moved to a new paddock each week and will not return to the same paddock for six weeks, to keep the pigs healthy and disease-free.

jerara creek farm Jerrara Creek Farm, Jamberoo
Alan Smith and Rachael Heald free range a small herd, grown in a rich, fertile environment. They grow their own supplementary feed on-farm.

Linga Longa, Wingham
Greg and Lauren Newell’s pigs are born and raised outdoors. The pigs are kept at a stocking rate to ensure ample access to forage and grazing pasture and freedom to express their natural behaviour in an environment as close to nature as controlled farming will allow.

Melanda Park Free Range Pork, Ebenezer and Denham
Matthew and Sue Simmons’ pigs are born and raised in their paddocks, free from farrowing crates and sow stalls. The commercial white pig is the pig of choice now, with just a small amount of heritage bloodlines to produce a sow that does well in the paddock.

Merrifield Farm, Merriwa
Mathew and Lucy Grace’s purebred Berkshires are run in small paddocks on a rotational basis. The pigs eat pasture, a mixture of produce grown on the farm and locally sourced grains. The couple have established an on-farm butchery and have employed a locally trained butcher.

Mirrabooka Pork, Lawrence
The Graham, Ross and Munns clans have set up their farm to nurture the pigs under their care. The pigs can roam in large paddocks, play and rest in their wallows and root and graze as they wish.

Near River Produce, Hollisdale
Therese and Andrew Hearne left Sydney in 2007 to follow their dream of owning a farm and producing organic food for their community. It came true with a smallholding on the Mid North Coast. They rotate the pigs through the various production plots; the pigs turn, clean and fertilise each area.

Oakleigh Pasture Pork, Gunnedah
Jack and Jen Hewitt grow a mix of Saddleback, Large Black and Landrace pigs. Maremma dogs protect the young from foxes.

Pecan Pigs, Pearces Creek
The Berkshire pigs are raised on pasture, and forage for pecans in the orchard. They help manage the paddock by trampling vegetation into the soil, and adding nutrients that improves soil biology and water retention. They are fed, slaughtered and butchered within a 10km radius; this is local food!

Pillar Rock Pork, Binnaway
The vast majority of Pieter and Michelle’s property is pristine bush, managed to conserve biodiversity and wildlife. The farm is subdivided into 22 paddocks, of which 17 are used for the pigs; this minimises parasites and erosion, and gives the paddocks time to recover.

Red Box Pigs, Kyogle
Sally Penhaligon free ranges her pigs, and protects them from predators with electro fencing. She regulates their temperature with wallows and sprinklers when it’s too hot. And when it’s too wet, she provides shelter.

Redleaf Farm, Fitzroy Falls
Sam and Katrina Sparke grow Wessex Saddlebacks for the Southern Highland and Sydney markets. The pigs roam in several paddocks on a rotational basis; their diet is supplemented by homemade ‘muesli’ of high protein mill mix combined with oats, barley, cracked corn, sunflower seeds and wheat grain.

Refalo Free Range Pork, Kemps Creek
David Refalo rotates the pigs throughout the farm on a month on/month off grazing system to seasonal conditionals with maintaining good pasture cover as the main goal. He plants fodder crops for pigs to graze, including barley, oats, sorghum and millet.

Riverina Berkshire Gold, Wagga Wagga
Steve and Leah Anderson run purebred Berkshires on the farm. The pigs are born and bred outdoors for their entire lives. The pigs forage on pasture, and eat an abundant amount of fresh fruit and vegetables, supplemented with pig pellet grain.

Saulbury Berkshires, Frogmore
Kay and Lisa supply purebred free range Berkshire pork for the Sydney market.

Tathra Place, Taralga
Luke and Pia Winder’s Wessex Saddlebacks free range in the half-acre paddock, with plenty of forage, bushland and grass. Their moveable shelters are made from recycled materials.

Wallendbeen Park Farm, Wallendbeen
Christoph Preussmann and Annie Jacobs raise their free range heritage pigs in a stress-free, outdoor environment on their regenerative farm. Berkshire cross piglets are weaned naturally to give them the full benefits of their mother’s milk. They also run a herd of cattle in a planned grazing system on land that is free from fertilisers, insecticides and herbicides.

Wild Terania Farm, Terania Creek
Peter free ranges heritage breed pigs on 2.5 acres of pasture, with a maximum of 10 pigs at any one time. There is forage to eat, grubs to dig up, a wallow to swim in, room to run and have protection from the elements. The supplementary feed is organic certified.

QLD

Bellevue Babes, Darling Downs
Soph’s Saddleback pigs are free to graze in open pastures where they are able to exhibit natural behaviors including wallowing, building nests to farrow their young in as well as digging the soils. Supplementary feed is certified organic pig mash.

Belvedere Farm, Cederton
Aimee and Nick use a ‘whole ecosystem farming’ approach comprising people, place, water, soil, plants and animals. They grow Wessex Saddleback pigs.

Bottle Tree Hill Organics, South Burnett
Meg and Wil Seller primarily grow Saddlebacks, able to graze in open spaces with access to shelter, shade and wallows in a developing permaculture system.

Echo Valley Farms, Goomburra
Randal and Juanita Breen rotate their pigs regularly from field to field, along with cattle and chicken. Supplementary feed includes vegetables and sauerkraut waste.

Emperors Pork, Grapetree
The Berkshire pigs, raised by Gordon and Jenie Fawckner, are free to explore muddy wallows and lush pastures. The Fawckners are passionate about soil health and land management.

Ethical Meats Farms, Gin Gin
Wayne, Abby and Alan’s pigs enjoy 24hr access to pasture, shelter and wallows. The pigs eat high quality grain mash from local suppliers, along with pasture on their rotated paddocks.

Freckle Farm, Eton
On Deb McLucas and Rob Bauman’s farm a rotational grazing system is used; their stock help improve the soil. They raise purebred Berkshire pigs because they don’t suffer from the sun as much as the white breeds, they have a quiet nature, and are known for their excellent eating quality.

Gleneden Family Farm, Maryvale
Rohan’s pigs are moved onto fresh pasture a few times a week, allowing them to graze to supplement their feed, and limiting their heavy disturbance to a short period on each piece of ground. They spread their manure and bedding, fertilising the newly broken soil.

Mansfield Park, Mackay
Graham and Glenys Mansfield began producing free range pork to provide quality produce in their restaurant. Graham enjoys breeding his Large Black and Berkshire pigs, both old English heritage breeds. The Mansfields also supply 1/4 and 1/2 pigs to local customers.

Mary Valley Free Range, Kandanga Creek
James and Chrissy Peskops’ Large Black pigs grow in family groups, free to range paddocks with ample water, weatherproof sheds and shade. The manure and other by-products of pigs, which contain valuable plant nutrients and carbon, are used as fertiliser for pasture.

piggy middle Piggy in the Middle, Kilkivan
100 heritage breed pigs are rotationally grazed, followed by chickens that remove any parasites. No synthetic chemicals, hormones, antibiotics or pesticides are used. The pigs dig and feed on local grasses, legumes and roots; they are also fed supplementary grains.

Shady Patches Farm, Nanang
Kymmie and Andres Schondelmaier run Wessex Saddleback and Duroc pigs. The pigs live in family groups, digging for roots and grubs among the trees. They do not cut teeth or clipping tails - it simply is not necessary. The sows are mated twice yearly so have a rest period between litters.

Sunnyville Free Range Pastured Pigs, Malanda
John and Shane Beattie’s pigs are free to wallow, run, play, dig and farrow. The paddocks are rotationally grazed; they are rooted up and fertilized by the pigs before being replanted and irrigated to return to lush pasture.

tillara trotters Tillari Trotters, Karara
Belinda Marriage and Tim Rudduck grow and breed Stud Tamworth Pigs. Unlike commercial enterprises that may breed pigs for growth and weight gain, they breed for flavour, temperament of animals and mothering ability.

whitsundays Whitsunday Berkshire Gold, Convay Range
Christina and Peter raise their pigs naturally; they roam freely in paddocks and graze, digging up roots, rolling in fresh dirt in the hills of the Convay Range. Their diet contains no meat or fishmeal and is free of any restricted animal materials; they eat a lot of fresh vegetables and farm eggs.

yanjala Yanjala Farm, Goomeri
Scott and Selina's Wessex Saddlebacks are born and raised outdoors with continuous access to pasture throughout their entire lives. The pigs have access to feed, shelter and wallows. Stocking rates are managed to ensure forage is always available through a rotational grazing system.

ACT

VIC

Amber Creek Farm, Fish Creek
Milli and Dan’s pigs live and eat in lush paddocks and are regularly moved to fresh pasture. The pigs are hand-fed whole grains, fruits and vegetables; they wallow in mud; and are content with human company and care. The pigs are drug, hormone and GMO-free.

Barongarook Pork, Barongarook
Xavier and Laura Meade raise up to 60 free range pigs, crossing Berkshire and Saddleback sows with a Duroc boar. The sows eat a diet of crushed barley and grower pigs eat feed pellets, with apples from the Meades’ trees supplementing their diet. Sows receive extra fibre after farrowing.

Brooklands Free Range Farms, Blampied
At Jono and Nat's farm, the Berkshire pigs are born and raised outdoors on chemical-free paddocks, rotated regularly. The pigs fertilise the soil as they forage. They also enjoy whey from a local cheese maker with a mix of grains from a local mill making their favourite porridge.

Bunyip Hollow, Wodonga
Cyan von Giya free ranges Large Blacks crossed with Saddleback and Berkshire pigs on the organic farm. The pigs have a diverse diet of organic milk, nuts, fruit and vegetables and grains. The sows are bred only once per year.

Catherine Farm, Glenlyon
Bohdan and Cathy’s Durocs enjoy a diverse diet of food rescued from landfill: organic rice cereal, fruit, vegetables, spent brewers grain and more. The pigs free range the paddocks, following the chickens.

Freeland Pork, Wodonga
Marc and Claire Coates cross breed Berkshire and Large White pigs in a rotational grazing and cropping system. All pigs are fed a vegetarian-only grain mix, free from hormones and meat meal.

Eaglehawk Farm Produce, Glengarry North
Chris and Geena Pettigrove’s wallow freely in paddocks, play and bathe in the sun. The pigs eat food waste and by-products from local bakeries and factories.

Glenaleece Farms, Lauriston
The pigs are raised under wide open sky with room to run, play and dig. They’ve been fed organic cereal, vegetables and milk.

Goulburn Valley Pork, Harston
Dareen and Sharon’s pigs free range on their 140 acre farm, with space and freedom to behave with their natural instincts and socialise with their peers. The farmers rotate the pigs frequently; they remove the nutrients left by the pigs by growing cereal crops such as wheat or lucerne.

Gypsy Pig, West Gippsland
Bronwyn and Michael Cowan grow Large Black, Tamworth, Wessex Saddleback and Berkshire pigs. They are born, bred and raised outdoors. Ham is available on the bone for Christmas and is prepared by John Preston at Country Style Meats, Garfield. Tip from @stickifingers

Happy Valley Free Range, Wandin North
Jo, Andrew Stritch and son Jesse have crossbred sows and a Large White boar. Most of their sows are Large White / Duroc, Berkshire or Wessex Saddleback.

Heathcote Harvest, Heathcote
Steve always wanted to breed pigs, and he did a lot a research to determine the best breed suitable for free range farming; he chose Berkshires.

Jonai Farms & Meatsmiths, Daylesford
Tired of choosing between saving the world or savouring it, the Jonai figured a way to do both. Their pigs have what Joel Salatin calls ‘one bad day’. They respect ‘the pigness of the pig’, and their animals are free to roam, root, and wallow as they would in the wild.

McIvor Farm, Tooborac
Jason and Belinda Hagan practice regenerative farming, building soil and ultimately producing premium healthy foods. Their free range pigs are predominantly Berkshire old bred and Berkshire cross-bred; hams are smoked by David at Flora Hill Quality Meats.

Millbrook Free Range, Millbrook
David and Cara Trigg run 20 breeding sows, which produce two litters of piglets each year, which are all born, and grown outdoors for their entire life, with shelter provided, and protection from predators.

Pig and Earth Farm, Kingston
Large Black and Berkshire pigs forage on roots and grass; they also eat locally grown grain and fruit scraps from a caterer. The pigs spend their entire lives outdoors, with access to shelter from bad weather. They are generally kept in pairs or small groups, and young pigs are kept in sibling groups.

Pig In A Box, Glenhope East
Clare and Bernie de Kok raise Berkshire Pigs in large open padlocks with forest and pasture. With a background in restaurants and farming, raising pigs with minimum stress is important to them. They hand feed the pigs on a mixture of grains, soaked to ensure they get all the goodness.

Raven Creek Farm, Moriac
Hayden Findlay and his wife Jasmin offer pasture-raised heritage breed pork available for pick up from their Moriac farm. The pigs live a natural life outside, manuring and mulching in areas that the cows can’t access. Tip from Sally Waites.

Shady Waters, Bannerton
Shady Waters run 50 sows and have a few of most breeds including Berkshire, Saddle-back, Large Black, Tamworth, Duroc, large-white and Landrace. The pigs enjoy a happy life in large paddocks, and are spoilt rotten with fine grains and vegetables for feed.

Taggarts Paddock Pork, Taggerty,
Farmer Angelo Greco teamed up with business partner Danny Dalton to grow and sell pork via the community supported agriculture model. The pigs spend their day on pasture, free to root around and forage.

Wattlebank Park Farm, St Clair
Nadine and Clive Verboon used to run 150 Holstein-Friesians and sell milk to Fonterra. Faced with the prospect of selling the farm, they decided to downsize and diversify instead. Their pigs are paddock raised; they dig, lay in wallows and play with their children.

Woolumbi Farm, Tyabb
Kenneth and Sonya Neff first established their free range Wessex Saddleback herd in 2005. The pigs are fed a diet that includes boiled potatoes, milk, and whatever they root up in the paddock.

Yarrapigs, Dixons Creek
Melissa Mancs and her husband have a herd of Wessex Saddleback cross sows, a Berkshire Boar and Large Black sows. The pigs are fed a blended grain ration along with fruit and vegetables. No steroids, antibiotics or growth hormones are used to grow the pigs.

Yarra Valley Free Range Pork, Dandenong Ranges
Christine Ross produces pedigreed Large Black Pigs, free to range on chemical-free pasture. Dane Wilson of Burwood Village Gourmet Meats cuts and packs their fresh pork and makes their smallgoods.

Zed & Co Freerange Farm, Gordon
After watching UK TV series Jimmy’s Farm, Marnie and Nick fell in love with Wessex Saddlebacks and bought a registered pair. With a passion for good, clean produce, they sell through farmers’ markets and direct to chefs.

Amblemead Produce, Mount Gambier
James and Lucy Koop free range Wessex Saddleback pigs. The pigs are born and bred in the open, with James quietly delivering them to their final stage, with the aim to reduce their stress.

The Dairyman, Barossa Valley
Michael Wohlstadt’s Berkshire and Tamworth pigs are fed milk from his Jersey herd, local grain, and they also graze on pasture. No feed additives are added that taint meat, and no growth stimulants or hormones are used.

Howie Hill Farm, McLaren Vale
Mel and Sam Hage raise close to 60 pure-bred Berkshire pigs, all free range and pasture fed. The pigs eat apples and pears from McCarthy’s orchard down the road, mash from Goodieson’s Brewery, and cakes and bread from the bakery. They are processed on the Fleurieu Peninsula, at the Strathalbyn abattoir.

Minniribbie Farm, Wangary
Warren Smith grows and processes Berkshire pigs that are truly free to roam. They don’t use any chemicals on the farm, nor give the pigs any growth hormones or feed additives. Contact them for old-fashioned smoked ham.

rare breed farm Rare Breeds Farm, Kangaroo Island
In 1802, Nicholas Baudin sailed around Kangaroo Island and released a few pigs; the Baudin pigs survived for more than 200 years in genetic isolation. William Marshall is the owner of the last 11 remaining left in the world. He also grows Large Blacks and Wessex Saddlebacks.

BIG RED, Forest Grove
David Hohnen and Nigel Lovejoy run mixed-bred stock comprising majority Tamworth, but also Berkshire, Duroc and Large White breeds. The pigs are free to root around for grubs or forage in eucalyptus woodlands, supplemented by legumes and grains. Porongorup Free Range Pork by Linley Valley supplements supply for the smallgoods.

Chestnut Brae Farm, Nannup
Linda and John Stanley raise heritage Wessex Saddleback pigs on Chestnut Brae's organically certified sweet chestnut farm. The pigs free range on grassy paddocks and root around to their hearts' content. Their diets is supplemented by organic sweet chestnuts and grain.

jindong Jindong Free Range, Busselton
The pigs are a composite of Berkshire, Saddle Back and Duroc breeds. They are fed a diet of special pig mix with all the vitamins and minerals a pig requires; pasture or hay depending upon season; waste potatoes, pumpkins, avocados, milk and eggs when available. Each pig enjoys over 100sqm of land.

Laterite Ridge Free Range, York
Mat Longworth’s farm began as an olive grove, and has blossomed to include a variety of nutritious food, grown organically without the use of synthetic chemicals. The pigs free range in paddocks with a mix of bush and pasture; they are fed grains grown on farm and sourced from neighbours’ farms.

merribee Merri Bee Organic Farm, Nannup
Home to Stewart Seesink, Bee Winfield and their son Lee, the farm is a permaculture that’s been developing slowly for 25 years. They produce the only organic pork in Western Australia from three mixed-race sows and one Berkshire boar.

chestnut brae The Organic Fine Food Co, Blackwood River Valley
Mike Van De Griend rears Berkshire pigs on an organically certified farm, Drovers Rest. The pigs free range on grassy paddocks and root around to their hearts' content. Their diet is supplemented by organic eggs and grain.

Terra Inspirata, Cordering
Steve and Trudy Stewart’s Berkshire pigs eat barley and lupin mix milled on farm with added vitamins and minerals, hay and garden vegetables. They live outdoors with access to shelter, shade and wallows, with no castration, tail docking, nose rings or teeth clipping.

TAS

Fat Pig Farm, Glazier’s Bay
Nestled in a narrow gully near the Huon River, Matthew Evans and Sadie Chrestman raise 30 grass grazing, dirt digging Wessex Saddleback pigs.

forkit Fork It Farm, Lebrina
Daniel and Kim Croker sell their pigs via subscription. Raised on pasture, the pigs root, graze, wallow in the mud and play. Sows have freedom of movement and natural interactions with their litter.

Kelty Farm, Woodbridge
On certified organic Kelty Farm, Rex and Cynthia Williams breed both the Berkshire and Wessex Saddleback pigs. The pigs are all born and raised in a free range system and are fed on Tasmanian organic grain and organic dairy, and the farm’s own apples.

Long Name Farm, Little Swanport
Phil and Selina free range heritage breed pigs on their 45 acre property. The pigs are free to roam and grow at their own pace in wattle paddocks. Their foraged feed is supplemented with a hand-made grain mix. They supply restaurants, are at Farm Gate Market and supply Pig-in-a-Box direct to the public.

Mount Gnomon Farm, Penguin
Guy Robertson and Eliza Wood are passionate about producing ethically raised meat with minimal impact on the environment. They specialise in purebred free-range Wessex Saddleback pigs; their ham is cured and packaged at Pandani Select Foods at Somerset.

Our Mates’ Farm, Geeveston
Matt and Coreen free range Wessex Saddlebacks and Large Blacks on their certified organic farm. The pigs enjoy apples and milk to supplement their feed. They are rotated through the paddocks to allow the grass to recover and clean the orchard to clean after harvest.

Tarkine Edge Farm, Smithton
Stocked at very low densities, Paul and Belinda Soldo’s pigs live in paradise, with an abundance of natural forage, wallows, and bush to scratch against and dig. The pigs diet is supplemented with milk products, potatoes, herbs, cheese, apples and seaweed.