Lachlan and Lauren began their free range pig farm Bundarra Berkshires in 2010 when Lauren saw the call for locally grown, ethically raised heritage pork. The idea for a 'paddock full of happy pigs' grew and fostered the way for slow growing animals and then handcrafting farmhouse charcuterie and smallgoods. The little on-farm butchery and store was established in 2013 and grew until its walls could carry them no longer. In March 2020, the butchery and store was moved into nearby Barham as the Little Pork Deli and Butchery. They now farm with 200 acres and breed with 80 sows, alongside slow growing heritage meat chickens, layer chickens and retired dairy cattle all totally free range and regeneratively.
We chose not to farm conventionally and use minimal inputs, instead we use homemade biological preparations on the soil, avoiding antibiotics and chemicals. We have adapted a slow way of farming and regenerative practices where we rest the land to rejuvenate the grasses that naturally grow here, protecting our soil as well as covering them with cover crops that also feed the soil microbes and roots. We are using animals manures by direct sowing the soil after grazing and resting paddocks to let native grasses and perennial pastures recover. We also never use ploughs to work the paddocks and aim for soil cover all year round to lock carbon in the soil through plant photosynthesis.
Our pigs and chickens are free to range, eat insects, dig wallows, make nests and run around in the sun and rain. The pigs do a fine job of fertilising and aerating, and the chickens leave behind finely scratched soil and lovely organic matter and feathers which is great for the soil. They also pick through cow manure grabbing bugs and helping the manure break down into the soil.
The slowly produced food from the Bundarra Family Farm is available to purchase directly from the Butchery in Barham, via home delivery for our monthly CSA mixed boxes, online, through the Fresho platform for wholesale customers, at the Castlemaine farmers' market, and selected independent retail outlets. You can also dine on the produce at some of Australia's best restaurants including Firedoor, the Surly Goat, Bar Merenda and Society.
Our vision for our farm is a shaded place, with soft soils, biodiversity of flora and fauna that provides us with healthy delicious food.
This is what we call a natural environment.
Berkshire pigs are an English heritage breed, also known as Kurobota pork and are the stars of our business! The breed produces some of the best quality pork in the world due to the excellent meat-to-fat ratio, marbling and slow growth which results in superior texture, flavour and tenderness. We also chose the breed because of the heritage classification, docility, hardiness to roaming the paddocks and because they are wonderful animals. We have 80 breeding sows spread over two farms which have two litters of around 8 piglets a year.
We love our pigs and we make sure their life on the farm is as natural and stress free as possible and truly free range to roam and graze.
Sommerlad chickens have been bred by Michael Sommerlad. Sommerlad chose genetics from Aussie game, Light Sussex and Plymouth Rock to produce a fabulous table bird, specifically bred for Aussie conditions. We source our chicks from Bruce at Milking Yard Farm in Trentham who continues to diversify the breed for us. The chickens add biodiversity to our farm and lovely organic matter to our soil. The breed itself also is important for biodiversity, and we are very proud to be able to grow these birds for our customers. The meat quality is outstanding, flavoursome, textural and dark meat with delicious yellow fat that keeps the meat from drying out. We find that the cooking quality is more forgiving than commercial chicken breeds and the bones are strong which allow the chickens to move freely around the paddocks as they grow.
The pork produced by our pigs is simply incredible. The flesh is darker in colour and has a firm feel, tastes sweet, rich and has a clean aftertaste, soft fat and great marbling which makes for great flavour and juiciness. This is the key ingredient for great charcuterie and smallgoods and why our handcrafted products require not much more than salt and time to be so delicious. We also produce smoked chicken pieces, which are succulent and a delicious snack for picnics or using in cooking.
We also dry age cuts to order for the next level experience. This is what real grass fed pork should taste like: no crap, no moisture infusions, no hormones and no antibiotics, just real, natural delicious pastured pork. The pork and charcuterie has been branded gold at both the Australian Food Awards and the Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards and a State Winner in the delicious. Produce Awards.
In 2023 we brought some hens and movable chicken houses and introduced 800 free ranging laying hens to our farm to follow our dairy cows around. We collect the dark golden yolked eggs every day and pack them just in Barham 4kms away where we supply the two local independent supermarkets and our butchery. Our eggs are packed with nutrients and are a staple in our families diet. The chickens happily fluff about the shady paddock and pick through cow pats, leaf litter and grasses and roost in their egg tractors overnight, under the close watch of our Maremma dogs. Chickens leave a beautiful soft trail of feathers and manure which is light and beneficial to the soil. We keep less than 50 hens per hectare.
Cattle are an incredible asset on farms when they are eating grass and rotating to and from paddocks. Their rumen (stomachs) ferment grass and roughage through bacteria processes and pass out the most fertile, energy rich nutrients as manure. Dung beetles then take this and pull it down into the soil, feeding the roots of plants and cycling carbon and nutrients through the soil profile. Methane is also cycled back into the soil through plants and the bi-products in this process all contribute to plant health and carbon sequestration via photosynthesis, which is the answer to reducing excess carbon being released into our atmosphere. Our retired dairy cattle range on rotations with our laying chickens and have a lovely symbiotic relationship, and in return we grow them out to full maturity of 8 years before we harvest their meat.
Life is about balance. So meat should be eaten mindfully, as part of a balanced plant-filled diet.
That is why we support Meat-free Mondays.
Ethical meat can be hard to find, with only 5% of all pork producers and 18% chicken produced in Australia is free-range.
That’s why we offer subscriptions delivering pork, chicken and eggs right to your door.
That not everyone can raise their own food.
So we are here to ethically raise your produce for you, share skills, and give you direct access to regeneratively grown food from our farm to your plate.
1 small serving (113g) pork = 1.13kg of carbon. 1 tree can offset up to 21kg of carbon per year, which is over 18 serves. On average our customers purchase 6 serves/order.
So we decided to plant one tree for every order. That’s enough to offset 3 times the amount of carbon we produce. Thinking about our planet now and for its future.
In addition we also measure and test our soil annually for carbon, organic matter and available nutrients so we can help lock in some valuable carbon from the atmosphere and grow better food.
