What Happens When You Let Pigs Be Pigs?

Give a pig a patch of ground and it won't take long before you know it's been there. They'll dig, turn over the soil, make themselves a wallow and generally rearrange things to suit themselves.

At Bunya Grove, that's not necessarily a problem. In fact, sometimes it's exactly the job Kylie and Mick want them to do.

The pigs have often been referred to as Bunya Grove's little rotary hoes. They are very good at turning over ground, particularly areas of the farm that aren't as productive as they could be. They dig, forage and disturb the soil simply by doing what comes naturally to them. Once they've moved on, that area can become part of the farm again in a different way.

Letting pigs be pigs

The pigs at Bunya Grove live outdoors with space to move, dig, explore and wallow. They have shelter from the weather and are kept in their areas using electric fencing. They're social animals too, so they're kept in small groups rather than living alone.

They are curious, clever and full of personality. And they're messy. There really isn't any point pretending otherwise. Give them an opportunity to dig and they'll take it.

But that's also what makes them useful.

Kylie and Mick don't look at the pigs as something separate from the land they're farming. While the pigs are being raised for food, they're also interacting with the ground beneath them. What they leave behind can influence what happens in that area next.

It's a simple example of something Kylie and Mick are continually learning at Bunya Grove. Sometimes farming isn't about trying to stop an animal from doing what comes naturally.

Sometimes it's about asking whether that natural behaviour can actually become part of the way the farm works.

And in the case of the pigs, sometimes the best thing to do is simply let pigs be pigs.