Name: Bill Duffy

City, State: Ashby. MA

Information

My name is Bill Duffy, I am 63 yrs old. I have been married to my wife Susan for 38 yrs .We have 2 sons Bill 3rd who is 33 yrs old and a very succesfull farrier ( horse shoer ) and Jay who is 35 yrs old and an environmental attorney . I have been a horseman my whole life and used that interest in the early 90s to start a private label manufacturing company called Northeast Equestrian prod.which manufactured over 100 products used in the training and showing of horses in a variety of disceplines that were marketed thru mailorder and online companies.

Although I was born and raised in a part of the country were agriculture is not a big part of the economy ,I have had a passion for raising high quality livestock for as long as I can remember and have many friends across the country that farm and ranch at the highest level .

The one experience that I had that sparked my interest in hog production was a 3 yr stint in the early days  on a hog cholera task force as a USDA APHIS livestock inspector were I worked closely with 2 USDA vets from ohio and Utah that were extremely knowledgable and passionate about hog production .

At present I farrow 10 – 15 sows and supply feeder pigs to several farms in the area and some registered breeding stock .I have found that there is an increasing demand for finished animals that we deliver split to high quality whole animal butcher shops in the more affluent areas of the state . The owner of one of the more successful butcher shops that we supply has told me that our Berkshire pork is the best meat of any kind that he has ever eaten. I think that there is more that could be done to educate the public about 100% Berkshire pork but we are up against alot of people marketing Berkshire that isn’t .I believe that is the biggest limiting factor to marketing our product . If a consumer pays a premium for what he believes is a gourmet Berkshire product and it turns out to be a run of the mill average cut of meat we will have a hard time getting him back .

A friend of mine Bill Conley from Gibbett hill farm in Groton mass,  many years ago had a brainstorm called Certified Angus Beef that changed the beef industry .I believe that with the combined brain power and passion of the ABA we could do the same thing .