Greta Valley Free Range Pork is owned and run by Brian & Kim Smith. Brian is a born & bred farmer having grown up on a dairy farm as well as running one himself and then getting into beef & cropping. Kim has been farming mainly ponies for 30 years. Our animals are treated with kindness and are exposed to the best conditions we can give them.

Our current pig herd of 30 sows is based on the Berkshire Breed. We will now concentrate on keeping some homebred gilts as replacements to ensure a high health status. Berkshires are considered a docile, hardy breed and are sunburn resistant, have reproductive efficiency, live well outdoors, They have a succulent taste, lean & high yielding carcass, which contains more intermuscular fat or marbling, exceptional flavour and produces more pork than bacon. The Berkshire are good mothers and produce plenty of milk. We average 10 piglets a litter with 8-9 being weaned.

Our pigs are raised humanely and we do not confine them to pens or cages, no teeth or tail clipping, no nose ringing and no growth hormones in their feed. All the feed is formulated by a nutritionist and mixed on-farm using our farm grown grain as well as bought in nutrients to ensure our pigs needs are met at every growth stage.  They also get vegies every day supplied by a local greengrocer. A round bale of hay is in each paddock for them to hide in, play around or just eat if they feel like it.

ALL OUR pigs including the sows, boars & piglets of all growth stages are free to roam around our paddocks and dig, forage, wallow, socialise, mate and give birth outside in their 3 sided sheds or make nests in the grass if they wish.  By raising the piglets totally outside we are ensuring the meat quality is exceptional which comes from stress free pigs.

We have found that one of the most important thing needed to raising outside pigs is  excellent fencing, including ringlock around the boundaries and electric internally. This keeps all our pigs except the minute babies where we want them. You also need an endless water supply for the wallows and good shelter as pigs do not sweat so spend all day in the hot weather under a tree or lazing about in a wallow.

The young piglets are with their mothers until 6-7 weeks of age and then weaned into a grassy, tree sheltered paddock to grow out to specific weights.

We have now been audited and are certified APIQ free range (Australian Pork QA) . We will be audited regularly to ensure our pigs are happy and healthy and treated correctly.

Our pigs are used to human contact as we go into their paddocks every day feeding, checking and maintaining anything of danger. We have found the key to happy friendly pigs is to ensure you handle them kindly and have them trust you.

Gary is a fourth generation butcher with nearly 40 years experience. He purchases Greta Valley Free Range Pork and can supply the customer with succulent 100% free range pork. He also holds classes in cutting up pig carcases. Below is a video clip taken of Gary cutting up one of our Berkshire pigs.  Gary is an advocate for free range as he cares about what the customer wants