About us

If you care about eating local, sustainable and humanely produced food, and if you care about eating food that has the best texture and taste, then you want to know about Willow Creek Farm's delicious pork.

Tony and Sue Renger share in the work of production, care, marketing and distribution of their pork. Tony grew up on a farm in Iowa and is a fourth-generation hog farmer. They started with 10 acres in 1993, and today they farm 130 acres. The farm is sustainable, providing a high quality of life to the animals and a great education for their children.

The pork they produce is so good because they bring three very important practices together. First, their purebred Berkshire hogs are the finest animals available for pork. Our hogs page has more about why Berkshires are so wonderful for pork.

Second, the Rengers use sustainable, natural farming practices. They believe that farmers who raise animals have an obligation to make sure their animals have comfortable and natural lives. Their hogs roam freely in their acres of green pastures, filled with natural Wisconsin grasses with no genetically modified plants, choosing whether to go into their clean straw-lined shelters or graze outside. Their noses are not ringed and their tails aren't docked. The Rengers feed the hogs corn, soybeans and other grasses grown on their farm, ground and mixed on the farm, with no antibiotics or animal by-products. These are healthy, happy animals who live without stress and lots of room and control over their lives. They are one of very few hog farms certified by the Animal Welfare Institute.

A third important practice is the local artisan meat company that butchers the animals and prepares the meat for market. Straka Meats in Plain, Wisconsin, is a small family-owned company that prepares their pork in small batches according to the specific requirements of Willow Creek Farm. Straka Meats has a long tradition of meat processing. They smoke ham and bacon with real wood for 12 hours -- the end result is very moist and delicious. This state-certified and inspected facility has a state-wide reputation for quality.

The Rengers were finalists in the first and second annual Gallo Family Vineyards Gold Medal Awards in the category of OUTSTANDING MEAT. Gallo Family Vineyards created the Gold Medal Awards program to recognize excellence and the highest standards in quality and craftsmanship among artisanal food producers in the United States.