PEOPLE
Chris Collier was born into farming and raising food for the family. He can tell a great story after great story about what it was like to be young and learn to farm. As he grew up, he was able to take various jobs in commercial farming. These jobs mainly involved the raising of commercial beef and pork. He even ran his commercial pig operation for a period, managing over 400 pigs at a time. If you are on our page, you likely know that the typical American meat process is not known for its sustainability or fantastic food products. Mr. Collier left the commercial farming world and took a job for the state.
Mr. Collier always kept interested in agriculture on his farm. This love was partly because of his passion for hard work and his father’s agricultural knowledge and influence. He started to learn more and more about the negative aspects of commercial farming, mostly related to the health of the nation. With his family’s commitment to wellness and their changed lifestyle, he re-entered the World of agriculture. Only this time, he had a new set of rules and farming practices. He knew that with the decline of our nation’s food system and decline in our national health, he needed to produce wholesome food to all those interested in buying meat grown in alternative farm methods instead of commercial practices. Not only alternative approaches, but he also had in mind to produce the best-tasting pork available. As such, he has refined his process for raising, breeding, and he selected the Mulefoot as his breed to raise. This selection was for its ability to be raised on pasture, disease resistance, and hardiness, but mostly for its known excellent taste, which has won “best tasting pork” contests many times.
He calls Jackson, Missouri, his home, where he lives on the farm with his wife, Marilyn. He also has two children, Valerie and Christopher.
Jered Wayland
Dr. Jered Wayland teamed up with Mr. Collier due to his interest in regenerative farming, desire to see a comeback of the Mulefoot as a heritage breed, and his desire to be part of providing healthy food to people around Missouri. Dr. Wayland’s primary responsibility at Midwest Mulefoot Ranch revolves around ensuring the Mulefoot breed is preserved. Selecting and placing future breeding stock is the main component of this job. The Midwest Mulefoot Ranch has set a goal of putting 100 breeding pairs around the country with the next two years, to preserve the amazing Mulefood breed for years to come.