Photo by Jeremy M. Lange The Independent Weekly on Franklin County's MAE Farm, home to 220 free-range hogs as well as cattle, goats and chicken. MAE Farm's owner and operator, Mike Jones, also works as an extension agent teaching other North Carolina farmers to operate small, low-impact hog farms. "By legal definition, a small-scale hog farmer is one with no more than 250 pigs. North Carolina has about 100 of these farmers, and Jones has helped almost half of them get into business since 2001, when he started working at N.C. A&T." The biggest challenge for these farmers is marketing, as most are naturally more inclined to focus on raising their animals than seek out new sales channels. "Accessing new...
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