Vendor Spotlight: PK Pastures

We’re first generation farmers (led by Kait Crowley) raising certified Organic and Animal Welfare Approved  pork and poultry near Sweet Home, Oregon on the traditional lands of the Kalapuya peoples. It’s our goal to bring you the tastiest, most ethical meat we can that’s good for people, critters, and the land we all share.

~ See what's in stock from PK Pastures ~

Established in Autumn of 2018, we’re just getting started renovating our pasture to nutrient-dense forage for our livestock. Harnessing pig power, we’re reseeding with a more diverse perennial mix. We work with our pigs to maintain high quality grazing fodder for all  our livestock. It’s our strong belief that pigs should be allowed to be pigs! And that means rooting. Our job as conscientious farmers is to create systems that apply their natural talents in beneficial ways. We practice rotational pasture management, and allow our pigs to work the soil for us in preparation for perennial forage species like orchard grass and clovers. Once the crop is established, the pigs will be back to hog it down. We are a farrow-to-finish operation, and raise our own frisky piglets right here on the farm.

Our chickens are Freedom Rangers- a specialty meat bird adapted to life on pasture. Freedom Rangers lead more active lives than the chickens most of us are familiar with, and you’ll notice a difference. More exercise means more flavor! They have proportionally more dark leg and thigh meat. Freedom Rangers are fully feathered, and less susceptible to heat or cold stress. We let them live up to their name and free-range during daylight hours, then overnight in chicken tractors that we move daily. We practice a leader-follower system, turning the chickens out on ground our larger animals have already passed through to break up their manure. This disrupts the life cycles of parasitic organisms and diseases for each species of livestock and contributes to pasture and animal health- much like crop rotations on organic vegetable farms.

In addition to upholding responsible land stewardship practices, we are committed to upholding principles of social equity and food justice. We strive to pay our employees competitive wages, and value farm labor as dignified and skilled work. Most of our" pasture-raised meats are sold direct to eaters through our 'Pay-What-You-Can' CSA farmshare program. We use a Community Pricing structure and encourage those who have the means to pitch in a little more to help others access our ethically and organically raised proteins. We also seek grant funding to provide no-cost shares.