Pork Farm to Food Pantry Program Kickoff Meeting

Have you ever considered raising pork for sale?  Would you like to learn more about Pastured Pork and best practices for producing high quality pork?

This year’s Northeast Washington Hunger Coalition Pork Farm to Food Pantry project is a great opportunity to get into raising pastured pork on a paid contract basis.

Thanks to generous financial support from Northwest Harvest, this summer’s pilot project will add locally raised pork to our existing Farm to Food Pantry (F2FP) program.  And were not just taking about any old pork, we’re talking about very high quality pastured pork.

How the Program will Work

Pork Farm To Food Pantry Pilot Project Infographic

Contract Farmer Application

Pork Farm To Food Pantry Pilot Project Request for Proposals (PDF format)

Pork Farm to Food Pantry Pilot Project Request for Proposals (MS Word format)

 

Who Should Attend This Event

Anyone interested in becoming a paid contract pork farmer for this pilot project or anyone interested learning about raising pastured pork for their own purposes or should attend this meeting.

Event Details

Date:                      Tuesday, March 10^th, 2020

Time:                      6:00 PM – 8:30PM

Location:               WSU Stevens County Extension, 986 S. Main, Colville, WA

Cost:                       Free

Registration:        No registration necessary

Event Schedule

• 6:00 – 6:15          Nils Johnson, WSU Stevens County Extension – Welcome and introduction to the Pork Farm to Food Pantry Pilot Project.
  • Presentation
• 6:15 – 6:35          Pete Thompson, Burnt Valley Farm – Presentation on the tools, equipment, and methodology they use to raise high quality pork on their farm, with a focus on practicality and decreasing complexity.
  • Presentation
• 6:35 – 6:55          David and Colleen Hudspeth, Battle Cross Farm – Presentation on the tools, equipment, and methodology they use to raise pastured pork on their farm.
  • Presentation
• 6:55 – 7:10          Break for snacks
• 7:10 – 7:30          Brad Murphy, Red Bridge Farm Feed – Presentation on the basics of swine feed necessary to produce high quality pork
  • Presentation
• 7:30 – 8:00          Paul Kuber, WSU North East Regional Livestock Extension Specialist – Presentation on practices and feeding that make the difference between high quality and low quality pork as well as how to recognize quality of pork.
  • Presentation
• 8:00 – 8:15          Kira Olsen, Smokey Ridge Meats – Presentation on USDA slaughter and processing at their facility
  • Smokey Ridge Meats: https://www.smokeyridgewa.com/  (509) 935-6213,  smokeyridgemeats@gmail.com
• 8:15 – 8:30          Nils Johnson – Presentation on next steps in the contract application process for participating in the program and then meeting wrap-up.
  • Presentation

Handouts

• Feeders
  • SwineFeeder_UMExtension_Pub5988
  • SelfFeederForHogs_BarrelType_Portable_MDExtension
  • HogFeeder_StandUpType_MDExt_Pub6144
• Fencing
  • Lesson3_FencingSystems_AppendixA_UofMainExtension
  • Lesson3_FencingSystems_AppendixB_UofMainExtension
  • Lesson3_FencingSystems_AppendixC_UofMainExtension
  • Lesson3_FencingSystems_AppendixE_UofMainExtension
• Housing
  • PortableShadeForHogs_UMExtension_Pub5947
  • ModifiedA-typeHogHouse_NDExtension_Pub5272
  • IndividualPortableHogHouse_NDExtension_Pub5127
  • HogBarn_6x10x5_PubNDExtension_726
  • 12x16_ShadForHogs_MDExtension_Pub5816
  • TwoPenPortableHogHouse_WSExtExtions_Pub5744
• Pastured Pork Economics
  • ProfitablePork-StrategiesForHogProducers-_SARE

Details about the program and applications to raise pastured pork on contract will be available at the event.  We’re hoping to contract with at least one female farmer and at least one farmer who is a current or former FFA or 4H member.

All the pork raised through this project will go to food pantries in Stevens, Ferry, and Pend Oreille Counties, to feed families in need.

We look forward to seeing you there!