Reviving some rural traditions

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Published on Friday, August 18, 2017

Photos by Christine Waddell
Elliot McDonald’s smile might be even broader if he can sell all his hogs this year. If customers want some home-grown pork, raised the old fashioned way they should give him a call.

Ken Waddell
The Neepawa Banner

Elliot McDonald is an experienced hog farmer and he’s only 11 years old. Four years ago, he started with five weanling pigs and fed them through to market weight. This year, he has 15 and several of his mostly black pigs are ready to go to slaughter. McDonald has a list of customers and he may need a few more this year.

McDonald buys his weanlings in the spring from a farmer who owns a number of sows. The weanlings are fed outdoors in a huge enclosure. Fresh water is provided constantly and the pre-mixed feed is purchased at Minnagro in Minnedosa.
Not satisfied to just be the guy who feeds the pigs, McDonald works on a part-time, volunteer basis at Minnagro. “I have helped mix feed and stock shelves and do a bit of computer work,” He said.

The hogs are processed at Oak River and Gladstone and then the cut, wrapped and frozen meat is delivered to customers. Last year, McDonald set aside some money for this year’s operation, but he also set aside money to tithe to the church he and his family attend. If there is profit this year, some of the money may go towards a shotgun, as he also likes to hunt. Last year’s hog adventure took a strange turn that keen eyed readers of the Banner classified ads may have noticed. Several of his hogs made a break for the open prairie and were on the loose for two weeks. They were eventually located, rounded up and returned to a reinforced pen.
Asked how he views his hog rearing project he said, “I guess I would call it a profitable hobby.”
Elliot has seven brothers and sisters who all live on a 3,200 acre grain farm south-east of Minnedosa, with their parents Neil and Larissa McDonald and Neil’s mom, Beth.