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David and Melissa Wallace raise Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) and Certified Non-GMO by AGW pigs at Wallace Farms in Rose Hill, North Carolina. The farm consists of flat land, good for growing a wide variety…
Well, it’s official: the United States of America is on its way to becoming China’s cesspool. Or the world's largest “CAFO”… As reported by almost every major media outlet, Smithfield Foods – the nation’s biggest pork producer – is being sold to Shuanghui International, one of China’s biggest meat processors, for $7.1 billion (including assumed debts). According to the New York Times, it’s the largest takeover to date of an American company by a Chinese rival.
For over 50 years, TK Ranch has been committed to taking care of the wild prairie and producing quality beef for Albertans. Situated about a three-hour drive southeast of Edmonton, 10,000-acre TK Ranch is located in the endangered northern fescue…
Jennifer Sisney raises Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) pigs, laying hens, sheep, beef and dairy cattle and meat and dairy goats at Landon Farm in Sperryville, Virginia. Jennifer grew up on a small farm in Virginia…
Nate and Lou Ann Robinson, their children—Jacob, Jamie, Lindsay and Renee—and their families raise Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) hogs and beef cattle outdoors on pasture at Jake’s Country Meats in Cassopolis, Michigan. Nate is a…
When a government’s independent advisory agency on human health publicly objects to proposals for a new industrial hog operation because of the risks it poses to human health, people tend to take heed. This is exactly what has happened in a small but very significant planning battle taking place in Great Britain. Midland Pig Producers (MPP) has applied to build a state-of-the-art indoor hog production unit in Derbyshire, which would hold 2,500 sows and produce around 1,000 hogs a week for slaughter – one of the biggest industrial hog farms in the country. But in what might prove to be a fatal blow to MPP’s plans, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) – the U.K. government’s independent advisory body on health – has raised a number of human health concerns about the proposal, including the fact that “recent research has found that those living up to 150m [165 yards] downwind of an intensive swine farming installation could be at risk of adverse human health effects associated with exposure to multi-drug resistant organisms.”
Hawthorne Valley Farm was established in 1972 and is a diversified farm producing high quality, Biodynamic and sustainable foods while offering farm-based education opportunities for children and adults. The team at Hawthorne Valley Farm manages herds of Certified Animal Welfare…
Sarah and Tim Haws “jumped into” farming in 2001, when they first set up Autumn’s Harvest Farm in Seneca County, New York, near Tim’s hometown of Waterloo. They are Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW, Certified Grassfed by AGW for…
Robin Rau raises Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) beef cattle and pigs at Shelby Acres in Colquitt, GA. A CEO of a local hospital by day, Robin started a farm many years ago with the sole…
Located in the rolling hills of Kentucky, Berea College was founded in 1855. The Berea College Farm program, which included a garden, livestock and a creamery, started in 1871 as a way to produce food for students and staff. Over…
Animal Welfare Approved is pleased to announce that it will offer a third year of Good Husbandry Grants. AWA is seeking proposals for projects to improve farm animal welfare with a concentration on three areas: increased outdoor access, improved genetics and improved slaughter facilities. “We have awarded funding for 65 projects in 25 states and are delighted to be able to continue these grants for 2011,” said Andrew Gunther, AWA Program Director. “The impact of these grants has been extraordinary—the finished projects prove that there is an inextricable link between high-welfare, pasture- and range-based husbandry and successful farms.” Current Animal Welfare Approved farmers and those who have applied to join the program are eligible for grants of up to $5,000. Jeremy Vargo of AWA-certified Vargo Farms in Bullock, North Carolina, raises hogs and received a 2010 grant to improve his mobile housing system. “The huts have greatly benefited my hogs,” he explained, “by improving herd health and expanding our ability to rotate pastures while providing shelter from the elements. This grant program, like AWA, is a win-win for the whole farm.”
The North Carolina Natural Hog Growers Association (NCNHGA) was established in 2007 when a group of North Carolina hog farmers banded together to pool their resources and build markets for their high-welfare, sustainable pork products. This cooperative of farmers manages…
