The Parker Family
Hurdle Mills, NC
It’s very quiet out at Parker Farms, home of Renee and Randall Parker and their children. Dusty orange fields surround the house on the dead end gravel road. Giant hogs—bigger than the cows in the neighbor’s field—lie in the shade of the hog house or wallow in the mud. The mothers weigh about 500 pounds. The market hogs are smaller since the best meat quality occurs when the pigs weigh between 240 to 260 pounds.
In the shady woods live the smaller pigs, less than a year old. On the day of our visit, six lie in a row among the roots of two trees, while the rest are in their house. An ear flaps, and there’s a little shuffling, but they seem unconcerned by our arrival. Over the next fence, however, are the three-week-old nursery pigs. When Renee’s daughter, Tiffany, roots them out of their house, they trot briskly about, zig-zagging through the trees or coming to look at us. A minute later, Tiffany announces the arrival of Cindy; I can almost feel the ground shaking as Cindy lumbers through the trees, followed by her posse of excited piglets. She flops over near the house, and the piglets scramble over one another to get their share of milk.
The Parkers have been raising hogs since 2005. They were looking for a new product as they cut back their tobacco production, and they’d always enjoyed raising pigs as 4-H projects with their children. The Parkers raise a breed called “Farmer’s Hybrid.” It’s an old-fashioned breed that’s not too common in the hog world; these hogs grow more slowly than many breeds. However, they are well-suited to pasture-based production: their dark coats protect them from sunburn, they are hardy and forage well, and they put on fat in an attractive way, producing flavorful, marbled meat. The Parkers’ hogs eat corn and soy meal as well as grass when it’s available. Renee has started feeding them barley as well, which is supposed to produce tastier meat.
Look for Parker Farms pork, ham, bacon, and sausage on the menu at Panzanella and at Weaver Street Market.