How to Buy a Custom Cut Half Hog

1. Make a deposit.

2. Prepare your custom butcher order.

3. Pay balance at pickup.

The Process

1. Make a $100.00 deposit for a January or February harvest. You can do this online or at the Cayuta Sun Farm booth at the Ithaca Farmers Market.

2. Fill out our cut sheet describing how you would like your pork cut and processed. If you have never made a “cut sheet” for a butcher, don’t worry; I can guide you via a phone call or in person at the Ithaca Farmers Market. You can use the list below as your order form or download this pdf file.

Because so much farm work takes place away from the desk without a cell phone in reach, please leave a message when calling (607-227-0316.) It may take longer than a day to catch up with you. This is the busiest time of the year.

You are also very welcome to communicate via email <Michael@CayutaSunFarm.com> and are encouraged to put the words “half pig” in your subject line.

3. You will receive an email as soon as your order is ready, about three to six weeks after the harvest date. Most hogs are harvested on the first week of the month, so a January harvest is usually ready by February. Delivery is free within 30 miles of the farm.

4. Most half pigs need about three cubic feet of freezer space for a finished weight of 75 to 90 pounds.

Prices
• $8 per pound of cut, wrapped and frozen fresh pork
• $1 per pound for sausage. No extra charge for ground pork. *
• $4 per pound for brining and smoking (bacon and ham.) **
• The finished weight of a half pig ranges from 70 to 90 pounds.

Custom Cut Butchering Options
The checklist below gives the common choices for each portion of the pig. You can also use this pdf file.

Check one option for each portion. Please ask if you do not see a cut you are seeking.

  • Skin-on cuts require scalding which is not available during cold weather harvest season. The hair grows too thick to effectively remove after the first frosty nights.
  • All trim and some backfat is used for ground pork and sausage. *
  • A minimum of 20 pounds is needed to make sausage. A batch of our own sausage usually contains two lower shoulders and one ham. *
  • Recipes available are: Ground Pork, Mild Italian, Sweet Italian, Hot Italian, Kielbasa, Garlic Bratwurst, Chorizo, Cajun-style, Breakfast. Most sausage packages are approximately 1 pound with four links per package. *

Jowl:
[ ]bacon, sliced **

[ ]fresh, whole

[ ]to sausage(±1 lb)

Butt (top of shoulder,) 6-10 lb:
[ ]roasts, 3-5 lb

[ ]steaks

[ ]shoulder (Irish/Cottage style) bacon, sliced **

[ ]cubed/stew cut

[ ]to sausage

Shoulder, 8-12 lb:
[ ]roasts, 3-5 lb

[ ]steaks

[ ]cubed/stew cut

[ ]to sausage

Hocks/shanks:
[ ]fresh, whole

[ ]brined and smoked **

[ ]to sausage (±2lb)

Center Cut:
[ ]chops

[ ]roasts, 3-5 lb

[ ]smoked chops **

Ribs:
[ ]spare ribs, half-racks

[ ]to sausage (±2 lb)

Belly:
[ ]bacon, sliced **

[ ]fresh, 2” strips

[ ]fresh, quartered

Loin:
[ ]roasts, 3-5 lb,

[ ]chops

[ ] back (Canadian) bacon **

[ ]cubed/stew cut

[ ]to sausage (±5 lb)

Ham, (10-15 lb):
[ ]fresh roasts, 3-5 lb

[ ]fresh steaks

[ ]cubed/stew cut

[ ]smoked roasts, 3-5 lb **

[ ]smoked steaks **

[ ]to sausage

Other:
[ ]fresh tenderloin, whole

[ ]tongue
[ ]heart
[ ]liver

Sausage Recipe: *
[ ]Hot Italian [ ]Mild Italian [ ]Sweet Italian
[ ]Breakfast [ ]Kielbasa [ ]Garlic Bratwurst [ ]Chorizo [ ]Cajun [ ]Ground Pork

Sausage form:
[ ]links

[ ]breakfast links

[ ]loose/bulk

[ ] Smoked sausage links(+$5 per lb)

Download this file to make a cut sheet:

Custom-cut half-pigs are sold out for 2019. (video)

You will still be able to find our premium Berkshire-breed pork at the Ithaca Farmers Market every weekend through December. However, all the pigs now roaming and rooting in the fields and woods are spoken for! We will start taking orders for half-pigs again in April.

Mother Mabel Joins the Farm (video)

Farrowing on-farm means less stress for the pigs.

We are celebrating the arrival of Mother Mabel and Papa Benjamin! They are both proven, experienced, gentle parents from a farm with healthy pasture, woodland paddocks, and family farmers that nurtured their health and sweet personalities.

tinkandbenj2

Farmhand Megan meets Benjamin.

Cayuta Sun Farm is exploring Animal Welfare Approved certification. This may require all animals to be born on the farm. So Mabel (who is already expecting) will farrow the first pigs to spend their whole lives on our land. The video shows Mabel with five of her piglets that also joined us last week.

Certified Animal Welfare Approved label guarantees animals are raised outdoors on pasture or land covered with vegetation suitable for grazing or foraging by farm animals for their entire lives on an independent farm using truly sustainable, high-welfare farming practices.

Springtime Piglets (VIDEO)

On the first day of spring, I tossed a bucket of apples into the piglet yard and watched their sugar rush unfold with a frisky rooster and nervous guinea fowl in the mix…

We raise Berkshire breed pigs on pasture. Their feed is supplemented with milk whey, vegetable and fruit scraps, and–once they are big enough–with the complex nutrition they find in our woodland pastures. Live pasture, real sunlight, and genuine herd relationships create a low-stress environment that produces superior pork.

Bringin’ Bacon to Maplefest at Wellspring Forest Farm

Instead of our regular farmers market schedule, we’re taking our pastured meats to the best maple festival west of Podunk!

Visit the enchanting Wellspring Forest Farm
in Mecklenburg, NY
this Saturday, March 17,
10 am to 4 pm.

The sugar shack is nestled between sheep pasture and hedgerows, wandering ducks, Buck Hill Pond and the mushroom maple woods. You will find the scent of maple syrup, a pizza oven and a BBQ, the sounds of music and laughter, plus a scene full of forest-loving farmers among gourmet food fans.
Just up the path from the boiling syrup, in a yurt overlooking the pastures, Cayuta Sun Farm will be showcasing our bacon and smoked pork products. We’ll be joined by the Finger Lakes Cider House, Acorn DesignsBeeSpoke Apothecary, and Ort Family Farm in a festival market.

BACON ALERT: Our naturally brined and smoked bacon is in low supply… this event may be the last of our belly, shoulder and back bacon until June.

HAM ROASTS: We have a collection of smoked ham end roasts… perfect for a holiday feast.

CHICKEN: A few Dark Cornish roasters and some regular whole broiler chickens will be available.

LOCATION:

MORE INFORMATION:

maple.wellspringforestfarm.com

 

 

Bacon-wrapped Dates stuffed with Cream Cheese

An easy appetizer for serving quality, pastured bacon.

This year’s Thanksgiving feast was a local foodie’s dream. Our hosts Steve & Liz of WellSpring Farm were serving a 30-pound turkey raised in the barn next door. They assembled a rich mixture of local farmers. Roots and fresh vegetables from Plowbreak Farm were prepared in traditional and not-so-traditional recipes. Deserts reflected the dinner guests’ bountiful harvest of apples, pears and berries. We enjoyed homemade cheese and bread, and plenty of Finger Lakes wine and home-brewed beer.

Continue reading