What to charge for a butcher hog?

Christiaan · #1 07/13/08, 11:12 PM

I posted this in the pig forum, too, but it doesn't get much traffic.
I'm raising two hogs this year, one for us and one to sell. I have a buyer for the other but they want to butcher it themselves. What do I charge? My thought was to butcher mine, and use its hanging weight to determine the cost of their's . Do you think that works or should I just guestimate or just pull up a price that seems legitimate?
Thanks for any help.

ericjeeper · #2 07/14/08, 05:51 AM

There it can be weighed. and processed then your buyer pays the butcher for his services.
you no longer have to worry about something going wrong and losing their pork.

chris30523 · #3 07/14/08, 06:24 AM

We paid .45 cents a lb hanging weight to have a steer butchered last year.Don't they have a site somewhere that would show what pigs are bringing per lb at auction in your area?

**clovis** · #4 07/14/08, 10:05 AM

I don't know what market prices are, but I always lean towards the idea that your hog is worth more than sale barn prices. This is based on the fact that you have feed it better than 'factory raised' hogs.
Clove

THETOOLMAN · #5 07/14/08, 10:36 AM

It depends, are you going to skin it?, are you going to scald & scrape it. are you going to 1/4 it & thats all OR are you going to cut it up & wrap?

Cheribelle · #6 07/14/08, 11:33 AM

Goodness, it sure seems like people respond without actually reading the questions around here.....
If they are they same size, I think you have a good idea, but if you have a place you can weigh the live pig, then you call the local sale barn and ask them what butcher hogs are bringing per pound and do the math. I would probably tack on a bit extra, but not too much because you don't have the hassel and sale barn commissions.

CIW · #7 07/14/08, 12:37 PM

I can go to the Saturday sale and buy 245/265 lb. hogs for 65 to 82 dollars per head.
Cut and wrapped is $1.08 per lb. That incl. bacon, pattie sausage and the hams cut into roasts. Cured hams will add some to the cost.
A good hog will yield about 63% of live weight.
Thats about 165 lbs. of meat. from a 265 hog.
About $1.58 per lb. in my freezer. Total of live purchase and processing. You can't raise them for that.
The butcher picks the hog up at the sale for me. I just go pick it up in a box about 2 weeks later. Frozen hard. And stop in for a vanilla cone on the way home.

THETOOLMAN · #8 07/14/08, 12:43 PM

CIW,
thats a great deal!

Christiaan · #9 07/14/08, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheribelle

Goodness, it sure seems like people respond without actually reading the questions around here.....
If they are they same size, I think you have a good idea, but if you have a place you can weigh the live pig, then you call the local sale barn and ask them what butcher hogs are bringing per pound and do the math. I would probably tack on a bit extra, but not too much because you don't have the hassel and sale barn commissions.

Thanks Cheribelle! The buyers are friends, so I think they'll probably go along with my idea since the pigs are the same size.
I really have to agree with your first sentence, too!!!

Ed Norman · #10 07/14/08, 03:29 PM

Don't be hard on Cheribelle, she hasn't been here long enough to realize that is the way the forum works.

And as for your original post; yes, you should worm your pigs.

**highlands** · #11 07/14/08, 03:35 PM

We charge $3.50 per pound hanging weight. The buyer pays for slaughter ($35) and butchering ($0.63/lb based on hanging weight) plus any smoking they want ($2/lb). The buyer pays a deposit to us and then the rest when they pickup the meat. We deliver weekly and have standing orders from about stores and restaurants for all that we can produce as well as selling to individuals.

Tip #1: Don't try to compete with commodity prices - they're losing $30 a pig and making it up on volume.

(old joke)

Tip #2: Don't sell at auction barns - it's the best way to get the bottom dollar.

Tip #3: Produce a premium quality product and sell to buyers who appreciate it.

Don't undersell yourself or your product.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org

RedHogs · #12 07/14/08, 03:53 PM

I think you have got to ask what is a fair profit margin? What is a realistic cost of production? Not your cost of production, but an average cost of production in the industry and type of production your using.... I can pasture raise a hog for 40 - 42 cents a pound right now.....

My goal is always to turn 33 cents on every dollar invested.

Under current feed prices.... I would and am selling individual hogs at 58 cents -60 cents a pound live weight.....

If you can't raise the hog economically, it dosn't make it worth more....

Your customers can find the price of pork of any style, traditional, pastured, organic in just a few seconds on the internet..... unfortunately, that sets the price to some people.

CowgirlGloria · #13 07/14/08, 04:04 PM

When I used to sell lambs on the hoof, I would deliver the lamb to a meat locker for the customer. The meat locker folks were very trustworthy and friends. They would give me the live weight of the lamb at time of butcher, and that would be the basis for the cost to the customer. The customer would already have agreed to a certain cost per pound.

I raised my lambs on pasture, not in a feed lot. I had a very tasty breed of sheep as well (Romneys and Romney crossbreds). Their taste was superior to anything that you could find in the store. They were also healthier to eat than anything you could find in the store. I would go to the store before butchering time and check out prices on lamb. I would charge that for live weight on my lambs, and I still had more customers than I had lambs.

So, it depends. If you have a really special product, don't be afraid to charge what it is worth. And you just might be surprised how much people are willing to pay to get meat that tastes good and is healthy to eat.

Just my three cents (inflation),

~ Cowgirl

copperpennykids · #14 07/14/08, 10:00 PM

Figure out what the pig + grain cost you. Don't forget to include gas to pick up feed for the pig. Make sure you make at least $50.00 on the pig.

Don't look at sale barn prices. Some of those pigs are fed "day old bread", which is usually white bread, tortillas, etc. Makes for a nasty product. $1.80 - 2.50 / lb X hang weight would be about right. If grain costs where you live are more, charge enough to make the $50.00 minimum work. After all, you did the work, provided fencing, and took the risk (sometimes pigs die or get sick).

Definitely use your pigs' hang weight to figure out the hang weight on the other pig. Make any allowances in your favor (in other words, if your pig "looks" bigger, just charge the weight of your pig, unless of course a substantial difference).

If they don't want that pig, someone else who can appreciate what they are getting, will.

stockdogtta · #15 07/15/08, 06:59 AM

If the 2 hogs are close to the same size then using your pig's hangin weight would work. Fat hogs are bringing roughly .50 to .54 if took your 2 to market. Hangin weight is approximately 66 percent of live weight--so that wold come to approximately 82 cents/lb hangin weight. A 240lb hog will hang at aprox 160lb. Tacking on extra charges--let your conscious be your guide of how well you know your butyers and if you want repeat business of selling butcher hogs to them.