Anna Longthorp is the 4th generation of her family to farm pigs on the family farm in Yorkshire. Anna says “Over the years we’ve learned that there is no substitute for love and care”.
Only 1-2% of pigs are bred to fully free range standards in the UK, but all of Anna’s pigs are fully free range.
Anna’s pigs eat like they would in the wild. They get natural substances and minerals from the ground.
Anna says, “Pigs are intelligent animals and deserve our respect. Love and care produces a much better end product.”
The number one priority at Anna’s Happy Trotters is the welfare of the pigs and this is something they are very proud of. Anna is a big believer in being responsible when it comes to eating meat, which means making sure that it has been produced to high welfare standards.
As well as being Freedom Foods accredited, Compassion in World Farming have also recognised Anna’s commitment to animal welfare by presenting a GOOD PIG AWARD.
The Longthorp family farm was originally a purely arable farm growing crops, pigs were added to the mix some thirty years ago to make better use of the grain and straw they produced. Anna was a little girl when pigs were introduced and the system has developed as she grew up.
Breeding pigs were set up outside from the very beginning. The piglets would be born outside and then once weaned, reared in large, airy straw barns – this production system is known as “outdoor bred”. In 2007 it was decided to take that one step further and go fully free range so that all pigs would be outside from start to finish.
There are only 1-2% pigs produced this way in the UK.
The breeds that Anna uses are a careful mix to ensure they are suitable for outside production, they deliver on taste, and they make good mummies.
Anna’s sows are a Landrace x Large White x Duroc – these breeds mean:
The Landrace is a Native UK pig breed and provides a longer loin – the most valuable part of the pig. They also make great mothers.
The Large White or Yorkshire pig is a Native UK pig breed known for good rates of growth but still with a good lean carcass, which gives lovely big eye muscles on your pork chops. The leanness counteracts the back fat of the Duroc so that the pork still has the intramuscular fat for great tasting meat but without too much back fat on the end product.
The Duroc originated in the US and is specific for outdoor production as it has a hardy skin which protects against sunburn in summer and grows a fur to keep warm in Winter. This hardy skin also makes for great crackling! The Duroc is also well known for its intra muscular fat or “marbling” which of course gives amazing flavour and succulence.
Although Anna’s pigs are kept outside they all have access to shelter and warm straw bedding. This shelter provides shade from the sun in summer and a nice cosy house in winter. Pigs create a lot of heat so when they all bed down together they’re super snug and warm. All of the accommodation is adaptable so more ventilation is created in summer and more heat in winter.
If it gets super hot outside, Anna creates wallows on the dry ground for the pigs – they just love it! Pigs cannot sweat so this is the best way for them to cool down by wallowing in glorious mud!
Anna’s Happy Trotters are fed a balanced and nutritious diet of natural and locally produced ingredients. The pig feed does not contain any antibiotic growth promoters.
Free Range Sliced Pancetta
Award winning and rightly so! Cured in Anna’s secret recipe cure and hung to let the flavours develop. The depth of flavour of this product is on a different level and something we are very proud of.
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Free Range T-Bone Pork Chop
Cut from larger, more mature pigs this is one hell of a pork chop with the fillet still attached, and with a lovely covering of back fat for oodles of flavour. Not for the faint hearted!
