Save The Swine-So Tx Heritage Pork
Donation protected
First, for those who do not know us, we are Kelley and Mark Escobedo. We own and operate South Texas Heritage Pork. We raise heritage breed hogs (mainly Large Blacks with a few Tamworth crosses) on pasture. We thought we should give a little back story so you know who you are supporting.
We started raising hogs in 2008 as a part time hobby. We owned a small locksmith business that serviced the local community for many years. We had the opportunity to lease a farm house and 120 acres of land in southern Wilson County. We purchased a couple of hogs and the rest sort of took on a life of its own. We did a lot of research. We decided raising hogs in a natural, humane setting was what we wanted to do, and if we were going to do it, we would only do it to the very best quality we could put out and we would do so in a way that was always in favor of the animal first.
The nice old farmer we originally leased from passed away sometime in 2012. His wife could no longer handle all the farming responsibilities and manage properties and the family decided to sell the property. While we loved the place, the price was not what we wanted to pay for the land so we decided to move the farm in 2013.
We did indeed move, not once, but twice in 2013. Even though we did all our research and found a property that we thought was perfect, the first property we moved to was owned by a woman that had been scamming people for years, mainly out of town hunters. For the safety of our animals and ourselves, we moved again in late 2013. The woman was eventually convicted of fraud and assault and we moved on with our lives. But it was very costly.
In late 2013 we found what we thought was our final location for the farm. We signed a long term lease with the agreement and intention that we would eventually buy the property. Things unfortunately changed and the owner has decided to sell the property. We can’t go into any details as some things are still pending, but what we do know is that we will need to buy land. Either this property or we will have to move and purchase another property. Leasing causes too many unknown variables and leases are not permanent and we cannot continued building, modifying and expanding on property that does not belong to us.
During the three years we have been at this property, we focused on trying to expand our operation. We have purchased several items for a commercial kitchen that we were in the process of planning so that we may expand our product offerings and bring more of the processing of our product in-house. We know that we are growing one of the best tasting, highest quality pigs in the nation. Now we want to take that product to the next level. We need a permanent home to do that.
If you know us and follow us, you know we don’t ask for help nor take help easily. We have worked 365 days a year for over 9 years building our business, many of those days start well before sun up and go well beyond sunset. We donate and participate in as many local events as we can each year. It has been a difficult decision to not just close the doors knowing that we might have to move the farm again. But we know our customers and our followers don’t want that to happen and neither do we.
The money will be used in part as a down payment on property that we can grow and expand our operation. If we exceed our goals we will use the funds to build a curing room and commercial kitchen, which have been our goals for many years. We will process our own product and make high quality charcuterie.
We want you to know we are not asking for handouts. You can support us by attending local events or purchasing our products. If you can't do either of these and want to support us you can donate here and we assure you that we will find a way to personally show our thanks to each and every one of you.
Thanks for your continued support.
Kelley and Mark Escobedo
South Texas Heritage Pork
www.southtexasheritagepork.com
facebook.com/southtexasheritagepork
We started raising hogs in 2008 as a part time hobby. We owned a small locksmith business that serviced the local community for many years. We had the opportunity to lease a farm house and 120 acres of land in southern Wilson County. We purchased a couple of hogs and the rest sort of took on a life of its own. We did a lot of research. We decided raising hogs in a natural, humane setting was what we wanted to do, and if we were going to do it, we would only do it to the very best quality we could put out and we would do so in a way that was always in favor of the animal first.
The nice old farmer we originally leased from passed away sometime in 2012. His wife could no longer handle all the farming responsibilities and manage properties and the family decided to sell the property. While we loved the place, the price was not what we wanted to pay for the land so we decided to move the farm in 2013.
We did indeed move, not once, but twice in 2013. Even though we did all our research and found a property that we thought was perfect, the first property we moved to was owned by a woman that had been scamming people for years, mainly out of town hunters. For the safety of our animals and ourselves, we moved again in late 2013. The woman was eventually convicted of fraud and assault and we moved on with our lives. But it was very costly.
In late 2013 we found what we thought was our final location for the farm. We signed a long term lease with the agreement and intention that we would eventually buy the property. Things unfortunately changed and the owner has decided to sell the property. We can’t go into any details as some things are still pending, but what we do know is that we will need to buy land. Either this property or we will have to move and purchase another property. Leasing causes too many unknown variables and leases are not permanent and we cannot continued building, modifying and expanding on property that does not belong to us.
During the three years we have been at this property, we focused on trying to expand our operation. We have purchased several items for a commercial kitchen that we were in the process of planning so that we may expand our product offerings and bring more of the processing of our product in-house. We know that we are growing one of the best tasting, highest quality pigs in the nation. Now we want to take that product to the next level. We need a permanent home to do that.
If you know us and follow us, you know we don’t ask for help nor take help easily. We have worked 365 days a year for over 9 years building our business, many of those days start well before sun up and go well beyond sunset. We donate and participate in as many local events as we can each year. It has been a difficult decision to not just close the doors knowing that we might have to move the farm again. But we know our customers and our followers don’t want that to happen and neither do we.
The money will be used in part as a down payment on property that we can grow and expand our operation. If we exceed our goals we will use the funds to build a curing room and commercial kitchen, which have been our goals for many years. We will process our own product and make high quality charcuterie.
We want you to know we are not asking for handouts. You can support us by attending local events or purchasing our products. If you can't do either of these and want to support us you can donate here and we assure you that we will find a way to personally show our thanks to each and every one of you.
Thanks for your continued support.
Kelley and Mark Escobedo
South Texas Heritage Pork
www.southtexasheritagepork.com
facebook.com/southtexasheritagepork
Organizer
Kelley Escobedo
Organizer
Floresville, TX
