HOLSTERBRO, Denmark — Jude Becker and Bertel Hestbjerg are friends who visit each other’s farms as often as they can, sharing ideas about pig farming. The two live on different continents 4,200 miles apart.
Dozens of pigs roam among poplar trees at Bertel and Marianne Hestbjerg’s Hestbjerg Økologi (Ecology) farm in Denmark.
Photo by Phyllis Coulter
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Bertel Hestbjerg welcomes visitors to his organic pig farm on Jutland in Denmark.
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Photo courtesy Jude Becker
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Feb 3, 2023
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