As of April 1, the mangalitsa will be a wanted pig in Michigan. And that has some farmers very upset.

 

A new regulation developed by the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will prohibit the fur-covered pigs. State officials claim the pigs represent a threat to pig farmers.

 

But some farmers raise the mangalitsa, which produces marbled pork sought by some consumers. These farmers claim the state is in cahoots with the Michigan Pork Producers Association, which represents large pig farms that want to eliminate smaller competitors who raise the furry swine and other “heritage” pigs, which they refer to as “wild hogs” and “feral swine.”

 

Pete Kennedy of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund has called the prohibition “a brazen power grab” by the Michigan DNR, which is “using the state Invasive Species Act to expand its jurisdiction beyond hunting and fishing to farming operations.”

 

Anyone found in possession of just one of these animals could be subject to a felony conviction and serve up to four years in prison.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Michigan DNR Going Hog Wild (by Pete Kennedy, Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund)

Pig Farmers: We Never Sausage a Thing! (by Bob Unruh, WND)

Farm Regulation in Michigan Could Potentially Harm Indiana Farmers (by Rachel Martin, Indiana News Center)

Owning Pigs a Felony in Michigan? Big Ag-Inspired Law Targets Small Farms (by Corey Hill, AlterNet)

An Old Breed of Hungarian Pig Is Back in Favor (by Michael S. Sanders, New York Times)