Applying regenerative practices to bring animals, soil, vegetation and people together. We believe that is why our products are Simply Raised Better.
Who We Are
My name is Patrick Toomey. I started Toomey Farms for bacon…
As a holistic management consultant and NRCS Rangeland Management Specialist I have seen some innovative and adaptive ways of farming going against the mainstream. As a consultant, I worked with several small/young/broke farmers and was paid in meat. One in particular changed my outlook on agriculture. Pasture Pork.
Pastured Pork literally changed my life. The color, texture and flavor had me hooked. Couple that with the drastic difference in management, health, and environmental effects compared to confinement hogs, I was a pastured pork snob from first forkful. When my family (wife Desirae, and two girls Edilyn, 6, and Ayla, 3) moved to Brandon, SD, we ran out of that pastured hog and the producer I had received it from didn’t have any shares left. This was the inflection point for me from consulting with farmers to actually farming.
I read the Salatin books, attended (and taught) the Holistic Management courses. I knew what had to be done but never put it into practice. So never wanting to purchase horrible bacon from Smithfield ever again, I took some of my savings and purchased a feeder, some IBC totes, and a fence charger and started on this crazy journey with a Craigslist ad looking for land.
In three years, we have come a long way:
I went from leasing 1 ac to 50 acres of pasture,
Expanded into custom cattle grazing with hopes to add pastured beef and poultry to the pastured pork,
Broadened my customer base from raising hogs for myself and a select group of friends, to people in SE SD that care where their food comes from and cares about quality, health, and community.
The farm has grown from a place of providing for me and mine to serving for thee and thine; connecting the spirit of the land, plants, and animals, and healing a food system that is broken.
Join me as I continue on this incredible journey to bring you the best protein possible, grown in a way that is SIMPLY RAISED BETTER