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Missouri pork producer wins Growing Green Award
Missouri pork producer Russ Kremer was awarded The Natural Resources Defense Council’s Growing Green Award in San Francisco. The council recognized Kremer for raising antibiotic-free pigs, which the organization holds up as an example of battling antibiotic resistance.
“Truly I receive this award on behalf of other sustainable farmers out there that are thinking outside the box and are courageous enough to farm in what I feel is the right way, in harmony with nature,” Kremer told Brownfield Ag News in front of his hog house this week, near Frankenstein, Missouri.
Kremer’s farmed this way since narrowly surviving an antibiotic-resistant infection, the result of being gored by one of his boars in 1989. At that time he started over and now raises free-roaming pigs on pasture.
“Back then, in 1989, there was no such thing as Whole Foods, and we had never heard of ‘natural’ or ‘organic’, so I didn’t do it because of a niche, I just kind of did it because I thought it was the right thing to do,” said Kremer. “And by the way, after the first year, I realized I was saving about $16,000 to $17,000 with no vet expenses or antibiotics.”
Kremer leads the Ozark Mountain Pork Cooperative, and together with 51 other member-producers, finishes over 50,000 hogs annually for Whole Foods, Chipotle and Costco Connection.
“The overriding benefit is the fact that raising hogs this way is easier,” said Kremer. “We don’t clip tails or teeth or shoot iron shots or give any vaccinations. I don’t have to treat pigs or drag many dead hogs off, so I’m enjoying it immensely.”
Kremer’s post-weaning death loss is about 1 percent.
He receives a $10,000 cash prize as part of the award.
Audio: Russ Kremer (17 min. MP3)
How on Earth could the selection committee for this award ignore Mr. Kremer’s complete lack of attention to soil erosion, failure to control manure run off and constant exposure of the pigs to parasites when they selected him for this award? Raising pigs in open dirt lots in the manner depicted in the slide show accompanying this artilce is devastating to the environment. The award must be a sham.