Tuolumne County farm tour showcases pigs and more

Brett Smith and Erin O’Hare have set aside 7 acres where pigs can romp and root around and fatten themselves up.

The couple’s spread, Wild Ride Ranch, is part of the eighth annual Tuolumne County Farm and Ranch Tour on Saturday. The event showcases niche products in a county best known for large expanses of timber and cattle ranches.

Smith and O’Hare raise the rare Berkshire breed of swine on pasture, as opposed to the corn and soybeans that make up most of the feed for U.S. pork.

“They just root through everything,” Smith said. “They eat the acorns and the roots and the grubs.”

The ranch sells piglets for $150 to $175 for other people to raise. It does not have a permit to slaughter the animals or sell the pork, but visitors can get free samples of meat processed off-site.

The tour is sponsored by Farms of Tuolumne County, a nonprofit group that promotes local products and agritourism. It typically draws 400 to 450 people, said Marian Zimmerly, one of the organizers.

The 2015 version will focus on the Columbia area, including a nursery, cattle ranch, Christmas tree farm and winery. Participants can drive in any order to the stops, which will have product sales, samples, demonstrations and more.

Wild Ride Ranch, which has 12 pigs for visitors to see, is a sideline for the couple, but it could be a full-time venture at some point. Smith is a supervisor at Tweedy Tire Service in Jamestown. O’Hare is general manager at Verizon Wireless in Sonora.

Smith said Berkshire pigs, bred more than 300 years ago for English royalty, yield a distinctive product.

“The marbling in their meat is compared to the best Angus steaks, which makes it very prime meat,” he said.

Pork is among the few farm products where California is not a major player. Iowa leads the nation, followed by North Carolina and Minnesota.

The Columbia ranch also has chickens, ducks and a large vegetable garden, along with the very friendly pigs.

“I’ll go in there and call them by name and they’ll come running to me,” Smith said.

Wild Ride Ranch is at 10375 N. Airport Road. The other tour stops:

▪ Bramble Hill Farm, 12161 Cattle Drive Trail, has Christmas trees, goats and other attractions, including llamas visiting for the tour.

▪ Grizzly Gulch, 9915 Horseshoe Bend Road, offers an old ranch house and barns, grazing cattle and a horseshoeing demonstration.

▪ Rodefer Vineyards, 10366 Horseshoe Bend Road, will have tastings of its cabernet sauvignon, along with food samples from Seven Sisters restaurant at Black Oak Casino.

▪ Columbia Nursery and Florist, 22004 Parrotts Ferry Road, will showcase its products, as well as a cafe that uses produce, herbs and eggs from the site.

This story was originally published June 8, 2015 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Tuolumne County farm tour showcases pigs and more."