Page 44 Stories of the Heartland • Sunday, April 19, 2026 hometownsource. com / heartland /
Mud, feed and family: Raising hogs at Scandia Valley Farms
BY SHEILA MCCOY STORIES OF THE HEARTLAND
SCANDIA VALLEY TOWNSHIP – Separated into different pens, the hogs at Scandia Valley Farms may seem like any other small farm hog operation. What may differ besides the size of the operation and owner Molly( Lybeck) Johnson’ s natural hands-on, pasture and outdoor-based approach to more commercially traditional hog operations, is that each pig has its own unique name.
While the barrow and gilt feeder pigs all play, for the most part nicely, in one pen, the sows, Thelma and Louise, are chillaxing in another pen with the boar Conway Twitty. Another sow is recuperating in the barn after giving birth two weeks early— and sadly— lost them.
Having always been around some type of farm animal, including hogs her dad raised when she was little, Johnson said she knew from an early age that she wanted to have her own farm one day. However, she didn’ t know what kind for some time. That is, until she was inspired from interning at Wakefield Pork in Ft. Ripley during her time in college. Even her studies, she said, focused on agriculture. Johnson graduated from the University of Minnesota in Crookston in 2004 with a bachelor’ s degree in agriculture business.
Scandia Valley Farms consists of Johnson’ s hog operation and her dad, Dion’ s tree landscaping business. She recalls when the first hogs came to the farm— three sows that were named Pixie, Dixie and Trixie. Before long, the farm was home to the first 18 piglets.
Exactly how many pigs are raised each year at Scandia Valley Farms is unknown. It also depends on how each birth goes, whether there are stillborn or the mother accidentally kills them by sitting on them. While each loss of life is tragic, Johnson said that is a side to raising farm animals that can happen from time to time.
Those among the living are raised from birth to finish, Johnson said. As
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Sows Thelma and Louise, and boar Conway Twitty follow owner Molly Johnson around the pen.
hogs are pregnant for three months, three weeks and three days, the waiting period is not as long as for other farm animals. All of the pigs are fed a corn and soybean-meal based feed with protein and garden produce or scraps, such as sweet corn cobs and tomatoes. Although the pigs are kept in large pens during the winter months, they all enjoy their access to the even larger pasture during the summer months, Johnson said.
Once the feeder pigs are about seven months old, they are sent to a family friend, who is a butcher at a nearby meat locker. While some prefer to purchase pigs alive, the Johnsons only sell their finished hogs once butchered and by the whole or half. The reason for that, she said, is that it isn’ t unusual for people who are not familiar with caring for hogs to believe that hogs are an easy animal to care for. In reality, there is a whole lot more that goes into it than leaving them in a pen and only feed and water them.
“ They can be a pain in the butt. They stink and they wreck,” she said.
Johnson said one example of the destruction pigs can do is seen on the trees that are standing Conway Twitty, Thelma and Louise’ s pen— the bottom of the trees are missing its bark. It’ s also not unusual for Johnson having to repair their shelter from time to time as they remove the boards. One friend, she said, had to take a break from raising pigs altogether to rebuild his setup because of the damage his hogs had created.
“ It’ s a lot of work, but in the end, it’ s all worth it,” she said.
Just as providing excellent care to her hogs, 30 or so chickens and other animals is important to Johnson, she also believes in socializing the animals, so they are familiar with being handled. Used to her pigs, it isn’ t unusual to see them following her around whenever she’ s walking in their pasture. They also love a good scratch.
Pigs, Johnson said, are quite known for their love to dig and wallow in mud. While that fact may be well known to a lot of people, Johnson said, what they may not know is that it is a completely natural behavior. As pigs cannot sweat, they regulate their body temperature by digging and wallowing in mud. It also helps to protect their skin from sunburn and parasites.
Besides the rewarding aspect of raising pigs, the Johnson family eats their own pork that has been processed into various cuts. Her favorite, Johnson said, is the pork chop. What means a lot to the family, too, is the fact that they know where they’ re meat is coming from and what that animal has consumed. Perhaps the most important aspect, she said, is they know their animals were raised humanely.