Living Light Farms is owned and operated by the Roth Family of Paxton, Illinois. Tim and Sarah not only raise hogs on pasture, but they are also raising 6 children whom they homeschool.
Tim was an IT systems engineer at the University of Illinois for 14 years before returning to his family’s farm full time. His father, John, is still involved in the farming operation, but Tim has taken over the livestock and most of the day to day decision making.
Our former pork producers, Will and Dallas Glazik, sold their breeding stock to the Roths about two years ago. Raising mainly Red Wattle and Large Black hogs, Tim shares their passion for heritage and endangered hog breeds.
The day we visited their farm, Tim introduced us to his Large Black boar, Gannon, who loves to have his back scratched. This endangered hog breed is extremely docile and very hardy with large lop ears and long, deep bodies. Interestingly, they originate from England and are ideally suited to outdoor pasture systems.
We had the opportunity to see the Red Wattle mothers and their just weaned piglets. Red Wattle is a heritage breed which come in a variety of shades of red, some with black specks or patches, and red and black hair. One of their most interesting features are the fleshy wattles attached to each side of the neck. Red Wattle are recognized for their good mothering qualities and stamina on pasture.
The Roths were training the piglets to electric fence before moving them to a five acre finishing pasture at another location on their farm. In this larger area of pasture the pigs can root, dig and just express more of their pigness.
Pigs cannot receive all of their nutrition from forage on pasture so they are given a ration of organic and non-GMO feed with very little or no corn and soybeans. The main protein source at Living Light Farms is yellow peas.
When asked why he chose this pasture-based system, Tim had some interesting answers. He stated, “It honors the pig by allowing it to express itself as fully as it can in the way God created it to be. I think it is the healthiest way to raise pigs plus it tastes amazing.
If you have never eaten pasture raised, non-confined, hormone and antibiotic-free pork, you are missing out. The meat is flavorful, tender and simply amazing! You can once again feed your family delicious pork with confidence.
We have a wide variety of Living Light Farms frozen pork cuts available in our farm store. Check our Products Page for more details.