We bought our farm near Waterloo, Wisconsin in 1996. During our time here, we have made changes in order to raise our crops in a sustainable manner.

We use ridge-till to prevent soil erosion and reduce the use of herbicides.

Over the years we have raised chickens and pigs for our own table. We became spoiled by our homegrown meat. Commercial confinement-raised meat cannot compare with the flavor and texture of our homegrown meat.

We have decided to share this great food with our friends and family.

Try our pasture-raised pork, poultry, and beef and you'll never want to buy any other meat.

After they are weaned and the weather warms up, our pigs spend their days in the pasture.

All of our animals have access to shade, water and forage at all times. They are also fed a free choice supplemental ration of corn, soybean meal, dried distillers grain and an organic mineral supplement. We grow much of the feed ourselves. We use no hormones, no antibiotics, and no animal by-products in our feed. Pigs and chickens are not ruminants and therefore must have a supplemental ration in addition to the pasturage. That supplemental ration must contain a protein source in order to provide proper nutrition. After careful consideration we made the decision to use a combination of soybean meal and distillers grain for the protein source. The alternative to soybean meal and distillers grain is generally some form of animal byproduct, even in organic systems. The standard practice of feeding terrestrial animal byproducts is what caused mad cow disease. In organic systems, they are allowed to feed fish or crab meal for protein without labeling it as an animal byproduct. We did not want to use these protein options in spite of being okay in organic systems due our concern about contamination from mercury, PCBs, etc., all of which are known to be harmful. Additionally, they must be freighted across the country, at least, to get to us. Our cattle have access to a supplemental grain ration while having full access to plentiful pasturage. We do this to gain the benefits of pasture mixed with the tenderness the grain provides. We have had customers choose our meat as the best tasting after doing a comparison with other vendors. Besides the great taste, many of you might be interested in knowing that pasture-raised meat has a vitamin that conventionally raised meats do not. That vitamin is Vitamin K. Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox: How a little known vitamin could save your life by Dr. Kate Rheume-Bleue is a very interesting book which discusses vitamin K2 and what foods contain it, predominantly pasture-raised animal products and certain fermented foods. We think that it is important to clear up a common misconception we hear. Many people think that it is cheaper to raise animals on pasture. It is not. That is why most are raised on feedlots or in confinement. Pasture costs money - land is expensive, fences are expensive, getting water out to the pasture is either time consuming or expensive or both, maintaining fences, managing grazing and pasture wear and tear, and maintaining pasture are all labor intensive and therefore expensive. While butchering animals in locally owned processing facilities that pay a living wage is great because of the low volume, local jobs, great service, food safety, etc., it is problematic when people compare prices because it costs a lot more money than it costs the large processing houses with exploitive labor practices and secondary markets for all their undesired parts - gibblets, kidneys, liver, fat, etc. Processing costs are an important factor in our a la carte prices. All this matters because our prices are cost-based. We charge what it costs us to produce the meat. The only mark-up resides in the price difference necessary to ensure that we sell all the beef, pork, or chicken, not just the ribeye (of which each beef has just a few), bacon, or chicken breasts.

All of our meat is processed in state or USDA inspected facilities. All our poultry are individually inspected at a locally-owned USDA-inspected facility. Our pork and beef are processed by a local, state-inspected butcher who also makes our pork sausage products using natural casings and spices without gluten.

Because our livestock are raised on pasture, some products are only available seasonally.

We are taking orders for our economical and delicious bulk meat portions. We also offer the popular one quarter hog and one twelfth beef portions for those with smaller freezers or appetites. Please see our bulk meat page for details.

Unsure how to cook some of the delicious, but less common, cuts that can come with a bulk pork or beef purchase? Check out some of our delicious recipes. Variety is the spice of life.

We also sell beef, pork, and chicken a la carte. Click for a price list and information about our delivery schedule in Madison, WI.

Our farm is located in Waterloo, Wisconsin about an hour from Madison, Milwaukee, Janesville, Waupun, and Portage.

Contact us about pickup and delivery options.

Get in at the planning phase:

Each year we send out a planning letter letting you know what we are raising and the cost for our delicious meat in the more economical bulk portions. Don't miss out on our planning phase - email us farmerdan@anisopteraacres.com with your name, address, and telephone number so we can mail you our planning letter or just email us your interest and we will send out our planning information by email, along with directions for making a reservation.