Cathy R Payne

Cathy R. Payne had a thirty-three-year elementary teaching career serving struggling students. She has three degrees in education from the University of Georgia in Athens. In 2010, at age fifty-seven, she retired from teaching and started a sustainable farm, Broad River Pastures, in Elberton, Georgia with her husband, Jon. The farm specialized in nutrient-dense food and heritage breeds of livestock. In her third year of farming, she discovered the Guinea Hog breed. It seemed like a perfect fit...See more

Cathy R. Payne had a thirty-three-year elementary teaching career serving struggling students. She has three degrees in education from the University of Georgia in Athens. In 2010, at age fifty-seven, she retired from teaching and started a sustainable farm, Broad River Pastures, in Elberton, Georgia with her husband, Jon. The farm specialized in nutrient-dense food and heritage breeds of livestock. In her third year of farming, she discovered the Guinea Hog breed. It seemed like a perfect fit for an eleven-acre homestead. She became frustrated, however, about the scant information she could find about the hogs' history and bloodlines. Cathy had experience with interviews, research, and writing from her doctoral studies, so she decided to write a book herself. To complete this monumental task, she interviewed dozens of key people who had memories of the Guinea Hog and those involved in their conservation. These conversations were recorded, allowing her to share their stories word for word, preserving rich details and nuance that bring a colorful perspective to this history. The Livestock Conservancy has monitored Guinea Hogs since 1986. They opened their archives for Cathy to help her portray what was already known and recorded about the hogs, including summaries of DNA studies. Early members of the American Guinea Hog Association (AGHA) helped provide names of people she may want to contact. She spent over five years interviewing these sources and making connections between the various stories. In the midst of this project, late in 2015, Cathy stumbled upon information about two long-time Guinea Hog breeders who were dispersing their herds. Through these connections, another discovery was made by a friend in early 2016. These dispersals represented genetics that had never entered the genetic base of the AGHA. Cathy and three other women breeders joined forces to form a communication network. Working together, they urged the AGHA to begin a Genetic Recovery program. They obtained the newly discovered hogs, completed DNA testing, observed their traits, and applied for recognition through the Genetic Recover process. After two years, the hard work was rewarded and the hogs richly enhanced the biodiversity in the national herd. Cathy has been featured in several prominent podcasts to educate listeners about heritage breeds. She has presented talks about heritage breeds for the South Carolina Organization for Organic Learning, the 40th Annual conference of The Livestock Conservancy, and more. Cathy's farm is featured in a section on heritage breeds in An Ecosystem Approach to Sustainable Agriculture: Energy Use Efficiency in the American South, by Carl F. Jordan, Springer Press, 2013. Cathy is enamored with heritage breeds. She has been an active member of The Livestock Conservancy since 2010 and the American Guinea Hog Association since 2013. This is her first book and the first in a series about the Guinea Hogs. Cathy recently sold her farm and moved to Athens, Georgia to be near family and community. She now divides her time between writing, consulting, speaking, marketing, gardening, and managing her website at www.guineahogbooks.com. Cathy can be contacted by email at guineahogbooks@gmail.com. See less