Nestled in the hills outside Athens is a safe haven for a few locals who are trying to avoid extinction.
Arcadian Acres, a 175-year-old family farm in Shade, Ohio, seeks to keep heritage breeds — a type of livestock that is critically endangered — from completely vanishing.
Heritage breeds are going extinct because of the rise of industrial agriculture, experts say, and because of their slow growing nature, many heritage breeds are not selected for factory production.
That’s where people such as Arcadian Acres owner and operator Neil Perin come into the picture. He uses heritage breeds on his farm while trying to educate others on the importance of saving the diminishing breeds.
After obtaining the farm that was in his family for generations, Perin’s love for history and his culinary background brought him to breed and raise heritage breeds in attempts to preserve the biodiversity of the animals.
Every day, Perin, a Franklin County native, wakes up and does his chores: He feeds the animals, cleans up after them and generally makes sure they’re healthy.
Despite not being certified organic, Perin, 29, abides by U.S. Department of Agriculture and Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association standards when taking care of his animals.
“We believe that our customers should know where their food comes from,” he said. “There are issues with not knowing where your foods come from. We want our customers to have faith in their food. …We’re transparent.”
Free to wander in subdivided portions of field marked off by wire, livestock on Perin’s farm roam the hills and forage for food. He said he has received criticism from passersby.
“I’ve had people tell me that the pigs are ruining the grass and that they’re ‘tearing’ it up,” he said. “But, having pigs graze on the hills contributes to weed control and gives the animals a low-protein diet.”
Perin owns Red Wattle hogs, Randall cattle and Dutch Belted cattle, among others, but the exact number of animals on Perin’s properties fluctuates every year because of breeding season and other factors.
For a customer, these animals can be more expensive than what is found in stores — a dozen eggs from Arcadian Acres costs about $5, and Red Wattle hogs come in at about $4.75 per pound — but Perin said heritage breed meat is worth the extra cost because they’re healthier animals, which can contribute to a better taste for people.
He regularly sells his products, including heirloom vegetables, at the Athens Farmers Market.
From a farmer’s perspective, getting heritage breeds can be costly because of genetic availability as well as other factors.
There are some benefits of raising them because of their self-sustaining nature, ability to forage for food and the history of the livestock, as well as biodiversity conservation.
They are also known to withstand diseases and don’t require certain antibiotics like some production-bred animals do, said Alison Martin, research and technical program director of the Livestock Conservancy.
“We’re helping ensure the future of agriculture by conserving the heritage breed,” Martin said.
As the battle to conserve the sustainability of future heritage breeds continues, Amber Altic, an Ohio University sophomore studying marketing, applauded Arcadian Acres for its mission to protect the future of agriculture.
“I think that protection of endangered species is important and that whatever we can do to help is important,” Altic said. “I’m glad that they are helping and I hope that they keep doing what they are doing.”
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