I've finally done the calculations on how much it cost us to raise this year's pig from the day we fetched her from Jim Gifford's farm to the day we packed the pork into our freezer.
We brought Spamela Anderson and her sister, Hammy Faye Bakker, home on June 3. Jim estimated that they weighed 100 lbs, and said they were a bargain at $80 each. (Since we knew we'd be butchering a steer and didn't have room in our freezers for two pigs, but felt it would be cruel to raise one pig alone, some friends bought Hammy Faye and reimbursed us for her food. They got a pig at cost without paying for our labor while we got to have a pig.)
By Sept. 14, the pigs were each eating 1 lb. of chicken crumble twice a day. They ate a total of 950 lbs. of feed between June 3 and Nov. 13, for a cost of $278.03. They also got copious scraps from house and garden (mostly vegetables). For the last six weeks or so, they got a pound or more of acorns a day.
On Nov. 3 at approximately 35 weeks of age, we checked their string weights. Spamela weighed about 301 lbs. while Hammy Faye weighed 319 lbs. To determine how to divide the feed costs, we calculated the pigs' weights as percentages. Spamela was 48.55% and Hammy Faye, 51.45%. So our share of the feed cost was $134.98 (48.55% of $278.03).
The pigs were butchered on Nov. 13. The butcher guessed their weights as:
Spamela - 378.81 lbs.
Hammy Faye - 391.18 lbs.
(Clearly, our string weights under-estimated their actual weight.)
Their hanging weights were 190 lbs and 198 lbs., respectively.
Our pig's butchering and processing fee, based on her weight, was $158.50. This included the cost of curing and smoking the bacon (over 20 lbs.) and hams (over 40 lbs.). We came home with 151.02 lbs of pork, including about 3 lbs. of fat, but excluding the weight of bones.
Here's the final break-down:
That's a Net Price of $2.47 per pound.
We're thrilled with that price for delicious pasture-raised, acorn-finished pork. And that doesn't begin to calculate the enjoyment we got from raising Spamela and Hammy Faye!
We brought Spamela Anderson and her sister, Hammy Faye Bakker, home on June 3. Jim estimated that they weighed 100 lbs, and said they were a bargain at $80 each. (Since we knew we'd be butchering a steer and didn't have room in our freezers for two pigs, but felt it would be cruel to raise one pig alone, some friends bought Hammy Faye and reimbursed us for her food. They got a pig at cost without paying for our labor while we got to have a pig.)
By Sept. 14, the pigs were each eating 1 lb. of chicken crumble twice a day. They ate a total of 950 lbs. of feed between June 3 and Nov. 13, for a cost of $278.03. They also got copious scraps from house and garden (mostly vegetables). For the last six weeks or so, they got a pound or more of acorns a day.
On Nov. 3 at approximately 35 weeks of age, we checked their string weights. Spamela weighed about 301 lbs. while Hammy Faye weighed 319 lbs. To determine how to divide the feed costs, we calculated the pigs' weights as percentages. Spamela was 48.55% and Hammy Faye, 51.45%. So our share of the feed cost was $134.98 (48.55% of $278.03).
The pigs were butchered on Nov. 13. The butcher guessed their weights as:
Spamela - 378.81 lbs.
Hammy Faye - 391.18 lbs.
(Clearly, our string weights under-estimated their actual weight.)
Their hanging weights were 190 lbs and 198 lbs., respectively.
Our pig's butchering and processing fee, based on her weight, was $158.50. This included the cost of curing and smoking the bacon (over 20 lbs.) and hams (over 40 lbs.). We came home with 151.02 lbs of pork, including about 3 lbs. of fat, but excluding the weight of bones.
Here's the final break-down:
Production Cost
for Our Pig
Purchase of 1 pig $ 80.
48.55% of feed cost $134.98
Butchering Fee for our pig $158.50
Total
Production Cost for our pig $373.48
That's a Net Price of $2.47 per pound.
We're thrilled with that price for delicious pasture-raised, acorn-finished pork. And that doesn't begin to calculate the enjoyment we got from raising Spamela and Hammy Faye!
Thank you so much for detailing everything. We are new to the farm life and couldn't find anyone who gave clear, detailed information. We are now looking forward to raising our own meat!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I could help, Nancy. Be sure to check out the Sugar Mountain Farm blog in My Blog List. Walter is THE pig expert, in my book! Good luck, and I hope you love your pigs as much as we love ours.
DeleteWhat type of pig did you raise?
ReplyDeleteThey were Berkshire Cross gilts (females). A local farmer bred several litters every year.
DeleteThank you for the wonderful detail. It was truly useful information and greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking the time to let me know, Benjamin! It's such an encouragement to keep on posting info and tutorials when I know it helps someone! Good luck with your pigs!
DeleteMaximising the feeding program to help in more pork yielding and other valuable products and by-products from swine and developing effective formulations that will minimize your feeding costs is important.Swine feeds are available as bulk or bagged custom mixes.
ReplyDeleteAndy, we prefer to keep our pork pastured and grass-fed as much as possible. We've been delighted with our pork using simple chicken crumble, garden scraps and pasture--and our butcher has been impressed with the quality of the pork. Yes, we probably could get more weight with commercial mixes, but the only thing we plan to add in future is milk and whey since I'm now milking a cow.
DeleteWhere Are These Pigs Available For Purchasing ? I Hate What Industry's Are Doing To These Pigs . & I Was Interested On Raising One (: A Girl Preferably
ReplyDeleteMaria, we found ours on Craigslist, just randomly checking. We had two girls, called gilts. I recommend checking the farm section on Craigslist regularly so you keep up with updated posts. Or if you happen to be in Vermont, you could contact Sugar Mountain Farm. Or if you happen to be in Illinois, contact South Pork Farm. Their blog is on my site, Midlife Farmwife. Sugar Mountain Farm is on here, too. Both are linked in my Blog List.
ReplyDeleteI have read several sites and infer that basic butcher cost should have been about $100, so the curing costs added about $50?
ReplyDeleteI didn't ask for a break-down, but our butcher does it based on hanging weight. Since they were so big, that might have added something. And then there were over 60 lbs. of cured meat. I'll have to ask for a break-down next time, but we were definitely pleased with the final price per pound.
DeleteThank you so much for this break down. We are raising our first pigs. We got a mated sow and she had seven piglets a month later. We will be having some butchered in the fall and now know it really is worth it cost wise.
ReplyDeleteBtw, I about died laughing at the names of your girls!
ReplyDelete