Organic pork producers’ bond spans ocean

From the International Agriculture series

Phyllis Coulter
Jul 31, 2022
Jul 31, 2022

Bertel Hestbjerg of Denmark and Jude Becker of Iowa have been popping up on each other’s farms, an ocean away, for almost two decades. Becker first visited Hestbjerg in Denmark on a northern European tour of niche pig farms in 2003.
Photo courtesy Jude Becker

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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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Pasture-pig-Denmark-stats — Bertel Hestbjerg welcomes visitors to his organic pig farm on Jutland in Denmark.

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Organic-pigs-IA — Photo courtesy Jude Becker

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In this Series

International Agriculture

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Jul 31, 2022
Organic pork producers’ bond spans ocean
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