Getting Started with Niche Pork

Raising livestock for niche markets can be a profitable enterprise when implemented successfully and markets are established. One way to add a niche livestock enterprise to your farm is through working with a company like Niman Ranch, which organizes a network of small family farmers raising animals according to a specific set of standards. Hear from Alyssa Juergensen, a field agent with Niman Ranch, and farmer Dan Wilson about their protocols and how to get started raising livestock for Niman Ranch.

Alyssa Juergensen is the west-central Iowa field agent with Niman Ranch, located near Churdan. She has a degree in animal science from Iowa State University, and now recruits and supports Niman Ranch producers in all stages of their pork production.

Dan Wilson and his wife, Lorna, own and operate Seven W Farms near Paullina, where they farm with two of their sons and one of their daughters. Together, the family raises organic row crops, pastured pork and chickens, grass-fed lamb and beef, and free-range eggs. They have been raising pigs for Niman Ranch since 1998.