The Rural Voice, 1999-06, Page 34Decidel
differe
Ron and Trudy Kassies pave
chosen their own path t' ''
success in raising pork
Story and Photos
• by Keith Roulston
At a time when packing
companies want all pork to be
uniform, Ron and Trudy
Kassies want their meat to be
different — and virtually everything
they do in their operation is different
from the modern, factory -farm
model.
The Kassies operate an 80 -sow
farrow -to -finish operation near
Londesborough in Huron County that
goes against the popular model of a
large-scale, low margin, totally -
controlled environment. The
finishing pigs, for instance, spend
most of their lives, winter or summer,
outdoors in an open -sided barn Ron
and his brother designed. And rather
than try to keep the pigs' immune
system from ever firing up, as is the
aim of three -site operations, Ron
deliberately develops the pig's
immune system through the use of
homeopathy.
Today, the Kassies' farm
operation is a far cry from the farm
they took over in 1984, stock and all,
from a widow whose husband had
been killed in an accident. The farm
has only 27 acres, most of it a pasture
field they rent out to a neighbour. It
means they don't have much money
invested in cropping equipment.
"I figure a cash -cropper can grow
grain cheaper than I can," he says.
It also means, however, that all
the farm income must come from the
pork operations, plus a flock of 500
laying hens. Part of the strategy for
the farm is low cost production.
That low cost production is helped
30 THE RURAL VOICE
by homeopathy. Ron admits he was
skeptical of the concept of
homeopathy when he first heard of it.
Their daughter, however, was having
trouble with ear infections and their
vet suggested they investigate
homeopathic remedies. They did, and
it worked.
Then their dog was hit by a car
and, thinking he was beyond help,
they took him to the vet to have him
put down. The vet persuaded them to
try a homeopathic remedy. The dog
recovered and is still part of the farm
family.
That was five years ago and Ron
got thinking that if homeopathy
could be good for his daughter and
for the family dog, his pigs might
benefit too. At first he kept up his
regular vaccination program but he
also installed a medicator system to
inject a tiny portion of homeopathic
remedy (1 cc per week) into the
water supply.
Homeopathy operates from the
exact opposite theory as three -site
production which tries to keep the
animal's immune system from being
stimulated. Instead, homeopathy
seeks to stimulate the immune
system by low dosages of possible
diseases the animal might be exposed
to.
Once he had begun experimenting
with homeopathy, he was encouraged
by his veterinarian to cut back the
regular vaccination program. He did
and has been delighted with the
results.
"I can't say that I miss needling
Ron Kassies finishes his pigs in an
open -sided barn he and his brother
designed. It's not the only different
route the family has taken.
and I'm sure the pigs feel the same
way," he says:
The cost, he says, is far cheaper
than vaccinating pigs. It's also easy,
with the pigs drinking the remedy in
their water, saving him time and
effort.
"It's less stressful for me, and for
the pigs, I'm sure," Ron says. He
recalls how the pigs always seemed
to know when he entered the barn to
do vaccinations and they got upset at
the prospect.
He also saves money because
there is no medication in his feed, a
saving of $20-$30 a tonne, he says.
Many pork producers can't
believe homeopathy actually works.
Ron recalls talking to one woman at
the Pork Congress last year who
spent more money on medications in
a month than he spends in a year.
You have to be open to the idea,
he says. Most people can't accept the
concept. "(Of) the people who have
tried it, the majority stick with it," he
says.
Like homeopathy, the other
marked difference in the Kassies's
operation from typical modern
operations came about because of
special circumstances. The farm was
originally set up to sell 50 -pound
weaner pigs from the bank barn on
the farm but back in one of the
periodic downturns in the business he