What Humanely and Sustainably Raised Means at Hundred Oaks Farm
These words get used a lot. We want to tell you exactly what they mean here.
The Animals
We raise Berkshire pigs, sheep, laying hens, broilers, goats, and cows. Breeds matter to us. Berkshire pigs in particular are a heritage breed selected over centuries for flavor and disposition, not industrial throughput. We keep our numbers small by design. Every animal on this farm is known to the people who care for it.
How they live
Our animals live on pasture from spring through fall, rotated to fresh ground daily or every few days. In winter, they're brought in from the elements, as any honest Midwest farm must do. This isn't incidental to what we do. It's the whole model. Healthy soil grows healthy forage, healthy forage raises healthy animals, and the cycle compounds over time. We supplement pasture with non-GMO grain when nutritional needs call for it.
What They Don’t Get
We do not use growth hormones. We do not use antibiotics as a routine management tool. If an animal becomes sick and requires treatment, we treat it. That's the humane choice. But it does not enter our food program. What you're buying was never medicated for productivity or convenience.
How they're processed
When the time comes, our animals are processed at a small, USDA-inspected regional facility. We chose this processor deliberately, for their scale and their care. We don't use large-volume industrial processors.
What we won't claim
We're not certified organic. We're not Animal Welfare Approved. We chose not to pursue third-party certification. Not because those standards are wrong, but because certification programs can become a floor rather than a ceiling, and we'd rather describe our actual practices than point to a label. We think transparency is more useful to you than a logo.
If you have questions about how something specific is done here, ask us. We'll tell you.
