Pork

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 $50.00 deposit for an October, November or December harvest. You can do this online or at whatever Farmers Market you find Cayuta Sun Farm.

2. By phone—or in person at the Ithaca Farmers Market—tell us how you would like your pork cut and processed. If you have never made a “cut sheet” for a butcher, don’t worry. We’ll guide you. 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, Michael Burns has phone-based office hours. Please feel free to call 607-227-0316 and discuss your order on Mondays (noon to 2p.m.,) Tuesdays (4 to 6 p.m.) and Wednesdays (noon to 2 p.m.) Whether you call during office hours or at other times please leave a message. Please be patient if it takes 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 second week of the month, so a November harvest should be ready by the winter holidays. A December harvest is ready in January. 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
• $7 per pound of cut, wrapped and frozen fresh pork
• .90 per pound for sausage in links. No extra charge for loose sausage.
• 2.50 per pound for bringing 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.

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 fat is used for ground pork and sausage.
  • A minimum of 20 pounds is needed to make sausage. Recipes available are: Ground Pork, Mild Italian, Sweet Italian, Hot Italian, Kielbasa, Breakfast, Regular, and Apple Cinnamon.

Jowl:
[ ]bacon, sliced [ ]fresh, whole [ ]to sausage(±1 lb)

Tongue:
[ ]fresh, whole [ ]No thanks

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

Loin:
[ ]roasts, 3-5 lb, [ ]chops [ ]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
[ ]heart
[ ]liver

Sausage Recipe:
[ ]Hot Italian [ ]Mild Italian [ ]Sweet Italian
[ ]Breakfast [ ]Kielbasa [ ]Regular (salt and pepper)
[ ]Apple Cinnamon [ ]Ground Pork

Sausage form:
[ ]links [ ]rope [ ]breakfast links
[ ]breakfast patties [ ]loose/bulk

Reserve a half-pig now!

Download this file to make a cut sheet:

ButcherOrderCSF2020fall.pdfDownload

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 Designs, BeeSpoke 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.

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