Midsized Farms Farms and farmers are all different. Truebridge farms aren't built from scratch on virgin squares of land. They are family farms with history, traditions and idiosyncrasies. Many of them are century farms that have been in the same hands for over 100 years, some since the land was first settled by immigrants. What do you see when you imagine a family farm? Most people probably imagine a very small scale operation run by a couple and their kids.		A barn housing around 1400 sows and their piglets.   Midsized farms are diversified, raising animals and crops.     A family's feed mill, where they make their own feed.   Value-added pork requires more inputs and more labor.
There are over two million farms in the United States and 98% of them are still family farms. Around 8% of these family farms are very large businesses, generating half of the country's agricultural product. On the other side of the spectrum, 60% of family farms are owned by retired farmers or very small hobby farms, that don't produce enough to live off. While large farms lack adaptability and very small farms lack volume, the perfect farms for Truebridge are midsized family farms. These are still classified as "small farms" by the U.S. government, but they have grown large enough to be diversified and financially sound. Economists have suggested that farmers who farm 1,000-3,000 acres that are integrated with livestock are some of the most "bullet proof" farmers in the U.S. today. Farms of this size have the resources to invest in the progressive equipment and remodeled facilities necessary to authentically meet high standards in quality, health, animal welfare, and environmental concerns. Midsized family farms tend to have multiple generations of family members involved in the work, experienced farmers who are in it for the long haul and care about doing things right. This is invaluable in raising pigs right. They also have enough people to handle the labor-intensive style of farming necessary for most value-added products. Most importantly, they have enough volume to supply a significant enough volume to serve the value-added market. Midsized family farms are, in fact, responsible for the bulk of small farm production, around 11% of total U.S. agricultural product.