Pigs on pasture

I've talked a lot about pigs on pasture, and my skepticism that you can raise pigs on a diet that is primarily what they find on the land.  "90% pasture" is just not reality for all of the pork producers I know of. 

John Schneider who writes in his blog Golden forest grains wrote an article in 2006 for Small Farm Canada magazine.  In that article he describes a feed mix that he prepares for his pigs that is pretty credible -- that is, I think he's got the science down, tracks what the overall protein of the feed mix is, and knows how many calories and a ration size.   It does include a large percentage of forage -- in the form of alfalfa hay -- and it's backed by research he found that studied how effectively pigs take up this sort of feed. 

In short, it sounds pretty real to me.  Here's his article.

Note:  Wild pigs grow great without being fed -- but they have acres per pig, not pigs per acre, and the growth rate (= return on investment) is much slower than a fed, domestic pig.   No commercial pig producer that I know of is producing pigs with a diet that is primarily pasture, despite many loud claims.