Boar Taint.

Right now my younger brother is sweating bullets. Why? Something you have probably never heard of before called boar taint.

Let me explain.

Boar taint is a really disgusting smell and taste that comes from male hogs. It is really nasty. Trust me, I know.

Generally boars are castrated during week 1-3 of their lives. The removal of the testes guarantees the removal of the possibility that they hog will have boar taint. This is done in all the gamuts of hog production. Factory farms do it, family farms do it. Nobody wants to take the chance.

Even Polyface Farms castrates. Yes, you have heard of them. They are the face of the "f you" movement challenging conventional agriculture and the government. They were featured in the book "The Omnivores Delimema" and the movie "Food Inc".

Factory farms HAVE to do it. Why? Because they way they raise their animals in confined spaces virtually ensures that the hog will have a taint. (Hogs raised in confined spaces are much much more likely to have taint).

Family farmers do it because they financially can't take the risk of the loss of income from a boar with taint. To them - it could mean the difference of making their farm payment or not. Furthermore, it has been done for years. It's "what you do."

Here's the problem with castration. Of course, nobody likes to talk about it. It isn't a fun topic. Animal rights activist are up in arms about it. We, as a family, are too. I absolutely refuse to castrate a pig. So does my mother. My brother will do it, but he would prefer not to.

The only person that is really comfortable with the job is my sister in law. She used to work at a hog confinement building. It was her job. She's good at it, if you will.

However, after years of research and my mother reading every book under the sun about outdoor pig production, things have changed at the Turpin Farm. Hogs are no longer casterated.

Raising your hogs outdoors on pasture significantly reduces the chances of boar taint. Check. We do that.

Butchering the hog under 300 lbs reduces the chances. Check. We do that.

Breeding plays a role. Lighter colored hogs have less of a chance of taint. Half check on this one. Some lighter colored hogs but we have been breeding in more Duroc genetics over the past few years. (The duroc gives the right marbling and flavor that consumers enjoy).

Tuesday Cole took a boar to the locker for a customer of ours in Kansas City. We won't know until we taste it if it has taint. (I am not there, thank goodness, as I don't want to take the chance of tasting taint. Poor Cole. hehe).

Even Barb from the locker called me thinking we had made a mistake. "You do know that this is a boar, right? Elvin said it has two seeds so it is a strong possibility that it will have taint."

Yep, I knew.

This is a big deal. Cole just quit his day job to be a full time farmer. Taking these sort of risks when he financially really can't afford to is stressful. If the boar has taint it is more than, "Oh we tried that and it didn't work." It is his livelihood.

For the sake of the hogs at the farm, Cole, and the customer that is expecting her hog to be delivered next week, I really hope it doesn't have taint.

Cheers and Happy Eats!

Lucinda