MULEFOOT GUIDING PRINCIPLES
We at Midwest Mulefoot Ranch want to help others learn. We would like to see the Mulefoot become a household name. It took us years to learn more about sustainable farming, and we want to help others bridge that gap to alternative farming faster.
The Mulefoot pig is considered critically endangered. It is reported that there is less than 600 registered Mulefoot in the country. We want to see responsible breeding practices set in place and see this breed take back off. With understanding the benefits today of alternative farming, and the Mulefoot’s great taste, it is uniquely positioned to see a boom in its population in the next years. Sadly, the only way this breed can grow is if people eat it and that increases the demand for this breed. With breeders in place all over who understand this, we would like to see the Mulefoot number grow to 2000 registered animals by the year 2025. We intend to see this happening not by us breeding so many, rather educating other farmers on the benefits and awesomeness of the Mulefoot breed!
Our Mulefoot pigs are raised on pasture and silvopasture. We move all of animals including our Mulefoot, but also our cows and chickens on frequent basis. Giving them access to new “salad bars” creates nutritional stability, great taste, and heals the land!
All plants and animals have a physiological distinctiveness. We embrace that instead of rebelling against nature and in the process of embracing it don’t have to pump the animals full of man-made feed, hormones, vaccines, and antibiotics. Our Mulefoot pigs through rotating through paddocks on grass, are able to do what pigs do. Most people think of pigs as being raised on concrete, stinking like crazy, and eating and wallowing in their own waste. Pigs on pasture are not like this at all. At Midwest Mulefoot Ranch the pigs get to be pigs the way God had intended.
We do our very past to pattern our way after natural patterns. Animals naturally mob and move. Cows don’t eat other cows. Pigs are not living on concrete in nature. Pigs eat nearly all of their diet in forage when allowed to do so. The list goes on and on, but when we do something at our farm we get as close to natural patterns as we can and still do our best to bring you the best quality food possible.
Helping our food system return to a natural and sustainable path was always one of main tenants. However, if it doesn’t also taste great there would be no one who would want to eat it. Then to top it off we need to ensure that the food is healthy for our family and yours! So many American’s health is suffering based on the food supply and their choices. This is why animals being raised on grass, not having pesticides or herbicides on our farm, no GMO feed, rotational grazing, and many other nuances on our farm gives you the knowledge that the food you get from us is good another for our family to eat too! To help for taste for example, while eating mostly forage, we ensure our Mulefoot pigs’ diet is varied. We make sure they get access to acorns and walnuts (increasing omega 3’s and the taste), we raise vegetables such as pumpkins (which alters the taste slightly and we have found that people love the pork they receive when it been fed pumpkins during the time it was finished), these small things add up to big taste and great quality for you and your family!