Farmers raising heritage breeds on regenerative farm

WOODSTOCK, Ill. — Regenerative farming and soil health are the focus for pastured-raised animals at Terra Vitae Farms.

“We have a farrow-to-finish operation where we raise Meishan pigs,” said Colleen Biver, who owns Terra Vitae Farms together with her husband, Mike, and her parents, Kevin and Katie Kelley.

“These pigs are originally from China and they can date them back 5,000 years,” said Biver at a farm tour during the Learning Circle for Women Farmland Owners event organized by The Land Conservancy of McHenry County.

“They were going extinct and the University of Iowa got interested in the breed and did a breeding program which successfully brought the breed back,” Biver said.

Meishan pigs are known as the red meat of pork.

“It is very rich, dark meat, heavily marbled, and the fat renders at a lower temperature,” Biver said. “A lot of studies coming out show that pigs raised on pasture have fat that is much healthier since it is high in Omega 3 and 6.”

The family members purchased the farm in 2017, and when they started selling meat to chefs, they offered a variety of pork.

“They always chose Meishan because it was so tasty,” Biver said. “It tastes phenomenal.”

The downside, she said, is the cost to raise the heritage breed.

“They grow slower so we’re looking at 12 months if not more for them to go to market,” she said. “But the pigs are pretty gentle, gentle on the earth, and they are well known for large litter rates, up to 18 pigs.”

The Meishan pigs farrow in the pasture and the farmers have built some huts into the earth for the pigs.

“Farrowing has been a huge learning curve to know when to step in and help,” Biver said. “We have a very good veterinarian who has been very helpful.”

When the family purchased the farm, there was no infrastructure.

“Fencing was a big hurdle to get over for us to do pasture rotation,” Biver said. “It is crucial to have electric fences; otherwise, the animals were getting out.”

The American Meishan Breeders Association recently met at the Terra Vitae farm. The event included about 50 people from around the country, as well as one of the first people who was part of the project that brought the pigs to the United States from China.

Chickens arrive at the northern Illinois farm as hatchlings and they stay in a brooder pen until they are about three weeks old. Then they go to pasture, where the chicken shelter is moved every few days.

That allows the chickens to have fresh pasture and distribute their manure for fertilizing the ground.

“We put our Maremma dogs with the chickens and the chickens will sleep on top of the dogs,” Biver said. “We also raise the dogs, which is my mom’s project, and we have English Shepherds that are used for herding, as well.”

A 22-cow Dexter herd is part of the 75-acre operation.

“We don’t use antibiotics or vaccines,” Biver said. “The finished weight of the cattle is from 800 to 900 pounds.”

Maremma dogs also stay with the goat herd on the farm.

“We use the goats primarily for clearing out and we also process them for meat,” Biver said about the Savanna and Kiko goats.

In addition to selling meat through the farm’s website, the family members go to the Woodstock Farmers Market and the Dole Farmers Market in Crystal Lake to market their meat cuts.

Their animals are processed at Lake Geneva Country Meats.

“Then we take the meat to Hometown Sausage Kitchen in East Troy, Wisconsin, to get cut up,” Biver said. “The two chefs there make phenomenal specialty products.”