Pigs do work no other animal on the farm can. They root, breaking up compacted ground. They forage for the seeds and nuts that fall to the forest floor. They open seedbeds for new growth, and they leave behind nitrogen-rich manure. Managed well, they leave the land ready for whatever comes next. Managed poorly, they damage soil, kill trees, and set the land back by years.

What Rooting Does

Pigs root because their bodies are built for it, lifting soil with their snouts to reach tubers, insects, and nutrients that grazing animals can't

Diversity

Many woodland and pasture plants need disturbed ground before their seeds will sprout. Rooting leaves a patchwork of turned and untouched ground, and new species come up in the gaps.

Compaction Relief

Rooting is a natural form of tillage. It can loosen old compaction in tired hay fields and overgrazed land without the fuel, heavy soil disturbance, and carbon release that come with a tractor or tiller.

Nutrient Cycling

Pigs eat plant matter and return it as manure, and moving them through a rotation spreads that fertility across more of the farm.

Seedbed Preparation

Once the pigs move on, the turned ground is ready for a cover crop mix, a polyculture, or whatever the rotation needs next.
Image with text section

What Over-Rooting Does

The same behavior, mismanaged, does damage:

  • Soil Structure Breaks Down: Over-rooted ground turns into a wallow that's compacted, short on oxygen, and quick to erode.
  • Trees Get Hurt: Pigs dig through roots, chew bark, and rub trunks. In silvopasture, we protect young trees and rotate the pigs out before the canopy suffers. 
  • Water Suffers: Pigs that churn up stream banks, wet meadows, or seasonal pools send sediment into the water. 
  • Native Plants Struggle: Some woodland wildflowers and native grasses don't recover well from heavy rooting, so we track which areas can handle how much. 

That's why we move pigs based on what the ground tells us, not on a fixed schedule. 

Where Pigs Fit In Our Rotation

Pigs come in late, after the other animals have done their part. A typical sequence over several months:

Cattle Graze

The pasture or silvopasture alley first, removing tall growth.

Sheep Follow

3 to 5 days later, clipping regrowth and breaking parasite cycles.

Hens Follow The Ruminants

Through orchard alleys and pasture, scratching through manure and eating fly larvae.

Pigs Come Last

and only into paddocks that need their work: compacted edges, woodland understory, and areas being prepared for reseeding.

After the pigs leave, we reseed as needed and fence the paddock off to rest for 60 to 120 days before any animals return.

Standards In Practice

Animal Welfare Approved has detailed welfare standards written for pigs. They require:

  • Continuous outdoor access for rooting, wallowing, and natural foraging behaviors.

  • Group living. Pigs are social, and AWA standards keep them in groups rather than confined alone.

  • Adequate shelter from weather extremes.

  • No tail docking, teeth clipping, or routine surgeries without veterinary justification.

  • Low-stress handling and transport, humane slaughter, and processing at AWA-approved facilities.

These standards line up with the animal welfare pillar of Regenerative Organic Certified®, which includes the Five Freedoms: freedom from hunger and thirst, from discomfort, from pain, injury, and disease, and from fear and distress, plus the freedom to express normal behavior.