Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Hog Farming Without Chemicals & Hormones

By Lianne Derocco


Factory hog farms produce millions of pounds of pork each year, providing much food for the masses. However, while the pork is produced in abundance, it is often raised in an unhealthy way. This includes using many types of unnatural products such as hormones, antibiotics and chemicals that are needed to keep diseases at bay. The amount of agricultural waste at these farms is also an area of concern, as the waste can be toxic and poses a threat to the surrounding communities.

In response to these behemoth factory farms, there is a movement afoot to return to a more natural way of farming. There are a variety of organic hog operations today that produce and handle hogs in a safer, more humane way. This includes providing a diet free of corn, soy and additives. While the latter feed components might provide large hogs, the swine raised with more natural feed are healthier for humans to consume, and the flavor is often much better.

These organic hog farms use feed that contains no types of medications or growth hormones. In addition, hogs are kept in more spacious pens than on a factory farm, and the animals are permitted space where they can roam and play. On some farms, there are even wallowing ponds where they animals can bathe themselves.

In order to keep animals free from illness, the numbers of pigs on each farm are smaller than on factory farms. In addition, animals are carefully screened before being purchased to ensure that no diseases are present. New hogs are often kept separately from the main group until the hogs are sure to be free from disease. This type of approach is often used in the larger factory farms as well as limited access to the animals in general.

When dealing with agricultural waste, an organic hog farmer might choose a product that contains no chemicals, such as the AgraSphere or AgraSphereLGT. These are biodegradable spheres filled with a mix of proprietary natural microbes that reduce the building up of sludge and prevent crusting in your deep pit waste containment system or in your manure lagoon.

Both products contain no unnatural substances, and require no mixing. You simply toss in an adequate number of spheres and they begin to activate, releasing microbes consistently around the clock. In addition to reducing sludge and stopping crust from forming, these products also reduce the odor and flies that accompany hog waste systems. The AgraSphereLGT will even improve the nutrient value of your lagoon manure for use as a fertilizer.




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