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hog marketing

3K views 63 replies 7 participants last post by  gerold 
#1 ·
I am trying to write up a add for free advertising offered from the D.O.A. But the issue is my grammar is not the greatest in the world I have bad A.D.D. and I have to be careful on how I word thing such as GMO FREE and ORGANIC terms and I only get one shot at it what I send to them if approved is what is posted and I can't edit it later. Can some one look over what I got and help me out THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! I been working on this since last night and have hit a wall.
 
#2 ·
We here at K and C Family Farm raise free range hogs to a marketable weight between 220 and 250 live weight. Then we sell to the consumer at $1 per pound live weight and offer transportation to a USDA Approved processor for a small round trip fee of a $1 per mile. We also do hog share which is if you don't have the freezer room or just don't want that much meat. We offer to put you in a group of other buyer who like you don't want or need the entire hog and you can just buy half or quarter of a hog

Our hogs are a cross between yorkshire boar and hampshire sow on average our sows have between 6 to 9 piglets. We also have connections with two other local hog farms who also free range that do not publicly advertise. I can say these other farms and I never use hormones and the hogs stay on strict diet of corn, soy, and pastur. The corn and soy both die when spray with roundup and the only time we use antibiotics is when necessary during castration. For de-worming we use diatomaceous earth for de-worming and in some extreme cases when bring in new hogs we use ivermectin which has a very fast with draw of 30 days and keep them in certain until cleared for pasture.

Upon request we can show feed, birth, and medical records for all our swine.
 
#7 ·
We here at K and C Family Farm raise free range hogs to a marketable weight between 220 and 250 live weight. Then we sell to the consumer at $1 per pound live weight and offer transportation to a USDA Approved processor for a small round trip fee of a $1 per mile. We also do hog share which is if you don't have the freezer room or just don't want that much meat. We offer to put you in a group of other buyer who like you don't want or need the entire hog and you can just buy half or quarter of a hog

Our hogs are a cross between yorkshire boar and hampshire sow on average our sows have between 6 to 9 piglets. We also have connections with two other local hog farms who also free range that do not publicly advertise. I can say these other farms and I never use hormones and the hogs stay on strict diet of corn, soy, and pastur. The corn and soy both die when spray with roundup and the only time we use antibiotics is when necessary during castration. For de-worming we use diatomaceous earth for de-worming and in some extreme cases when bring in new hogs we use ivermectin which has a very fast with draw of 30 days and keep them in certain until cleared for pasture.

Upon request we can show feed, birth, and medical records for all our swine.
I would leave out the (Spay with roundup) part.
I use the Phase (Naturally Raised Pork) instead of Organic.
Even with Organic some chemicals can be used. I Do not use the word Organic. I like Natural pasture raised pork. It is the very best pork with a bit of good tasting fat in the meat.
Most Soy has been sprayed with chemicals so you have to watch for that.

Good luck,
Gerold.
 
#3 ·
Hi
I would recommend not using "you." Refer to "our customers" instead.
Hormones are not legal to feed to hogs, so it goes without saying that you and others don't feed hormones.
Also, why advertise for your competitors? Drop the reference to other hog farmers.
You can use the term non-GMO, if that is what you feed. The phrase about spraying with round-up is too confusing.
Just don't use the term organic, unless you have been inspected and approved as an organic farmer.
Tell customers what is special about your pork.
Basically, cut back on the wordiness. Ads should be crisp and grab a consumer's attention.
On a side note, DE is not really effective for de-worming. If you are confident your pigs aren't loaded with worms, perhaps it is due to pasture rotation/managment (?) If so, mention that as a natural method of de-worming.
Good luck
 
#4 ·
Hi
I would recommend not using "you." Refer to "our customers" instead.
Hormones are not legal to feed to hogs, so it goes without saying that you and others don't feed hormones.
Also, why advertise for your competitors? Drop the reference to other hog farmers.
You can use the term non-GMO, if that is what you feed. The phrase about spraying with round-up is too confusing.
Just don't use the term organic, unless you have been inspected and approved as an organic farmer.
Tell customers what is special about your pork.
Basically, cut back on the wordiness. Ads should be crisp and grab a consumer's attention.
On a side note, DE is not really effective for de-worming. If you are confident your pigs aren't loaded with worms, perhaps it is due to pasture rotation/managment (?) If so, mention that as a natural method of de-worming.
Good luck
Thank you for your input! Think the issue with the word GMO-Free was the Department of Agriculture here in Tennessee told me if I was to make that statement in my add I had to back it up with scientific reports done on the specific feed manufactur I use. See the problem with that is I buy all my feed from a local small farmer who has cut me a deal for cheap hog feed if I buy solely from him. An I kinda like the guy I watch his fields grow I watch him and his boys grind it down and bag it I know what and how much of what I am getting. I like that! An where I am you can't beat $5 per 50lb. If I was to buy from anyone else it would cripple me.
 
#8 ·
“We here at K and C Family Farm raise free range pigs to market weight between 220 and 250 live weight. Then we sell to the consumer at $1 per pound live weight and offer transportation to a USDA Approved processor for a small round trip fee of a $1 per mile. If you don't want that much meat, we offer to put you in a group of other buyers who like you don't want or need the entire pig and you can just buy half or quarter of a pig.

Our pigs are a cross between Yorkshire and Hampshire. Our sows have litters of 6 to 9 piglets. They are fed locally grown corn, soybeans, pasture and minerals.
Upon request we can show feed, birth, and medical records for all our swine.”


While regulations vary from state to state, in Michigan, if it is for personal use, you don’t need a facility that has a USDA inspector, just Stat inspected is fine. Because, the pig belongs to the consumer. You aren’t selling meat, you are selling pigs. If you know where the slaughter facility is, instead of $1 per mile, just make it a delivery charge, say $20 delivery. Buyers don’t want to hear about your wormy pigs. The word pig is nicer sounding than hog.
 
#9 ·
Selling the animal and then slaughtering it for the customer without inspection is a grey area you may not want to fly into.

I don't sell animals for customers to kill themselves because I've spent ten months from conception to finish raising the animal well and don't want it's last moments to be at the hands of someone who botches the kill, either accidentally or intentionally (two very bizarre customers).

Thus I sell inspected and processed meat, feeder pigs (I hope that a person who has raised the animal has more respect than the bizarre ones referenced above) and breeders (more expensive than someone would want for just a kill or meat).

The government does pursue people who they think are circuiting the rules so be sure that how you do it is within the regulations. Not worth getting in trouble.

-Walter
 
#10 ·
Here in the state I live now if you slaughter the animal it is only for personal use. This is one that get me though According to the USDA here if a animal dies you are supposed to compost them!! To me that just does not seem right when it comes to contagious diseases. Grandpa always kept a good sized brush pile and a stack of old tires around for anything that just up and dropped. I do understand the problem of letting someone who has never done a kill before run solo. I seen grown men talk big walk into a pen take a shot and glans their target then you have multiple problems. but I have also seen a thirteen year old boy step into a pen with nothing but a 22 revolver and a filleting knife an pull it off like a pro without a hitch.

Honestly I am trying to work it out to the point where a USDA Processor just calls me when they need a hog. I am not by no means a people person I like animals more and always find myself stuttering and having brain farts during business transactions.


This actually brings up a interesting subject USDA regulation, Organic regulations, and GMO free regulations for each state they are all similar but buy no means the same to the T.

An the entire organic thing has turned into a mess I wrote the USDA here and they redirected me to a directory service named organic integrity service and before I go any further I did send them a e-mail and at the bottom there is a disclosure basically stating what was said between me and the organic certifier was private and punishable by law if I shared it. So not word for word but I am going to be vague on this but the person was no help and had to redirect all my questions to several other people. They snap shotted a google search and sent it back. That kinda aggravated me because google is the first thing I did and I did that for three days prior to writing them. The drift is though I pay out anywhere from $750 if I have a inspector in my state which I don't once a year to $7,500 if they live out of my state once a year but it's ok because the department of agriculture is going to refund me up to 75% of that "once I pass". I don't doubt I would pass if it was not a inspector but I have dealt with inspectors before and been way above par and still fail and $7,000 is too steep of a risk for me to take.

I have come to understand in order to get a ""good job sticker"" for doing something I been doing for a long time now Is going to cost a mess of money I will never recover. I would really like to see someone who has done the organic certification and see what it cost them start to finish and how much they had to jack up their prices just to float it.

In all honesty I don't think people thought this was going to happen. I run my farm organically because it is cheaper to recycle thing back into circulation. Chicken poo goes on the garden, chickens lay too many eggs throw them to the hogs, cow makes to much milk throw it to the hogs. low on feed and need land cleared let the hogs have it for a little while. cut dead bug infested wood down burn it for heat, take ash and dead coals and use them in the garden, ash is good for soap, coals is good for a lot of stuff. I could write a book on this stuff no one would buy it though.

USDA regulation are relatively simple we see them every day in action and don't even realize it. process the livestock in clean and holsom facility in a human way, detailed trackable labeling in case of recall issue, airtight vacuum pact in most cases nowadays I know I missed something there but that's the gist. I got to stop it's past 3am ttfn
 
#14 ·
I just want to say thank you to everyone who chipped in on advice and wanted to let you know we got our approval today THANK YOU!!!
 
#15 ·
Your original post is a bit rambling. I'd not say a word about the other farms, if you sell more than you have then simply buy from them or coordinate.

Also, don't lie in your post. NO pigs in the USA are fed any hormones, stating that your pigs were never fed hormones is misleading and disingenuous.
 
#16 ·
You could've fooled me sterol meets the definition of a steroid if you ask me it looks like one of those words the FDA and DOA renamed to make the public feel better. Definition 1. Sterol any of a group of naturally occurring unsaturated "steroid alcohols", typically waxy solids.
Sterol - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterol
Sterol. ... The most familiar type of animal sterol is cholesterol, which is vital to cell membrane structure, and functions as a precursor to fat-soluble vitamins and steroid hormones.
<I am sorry but that sounds like a steroid and it is in all kinds of swine feed. My personal definition of a steroid is any hormone that increases muscle, fat, and cell development.
 
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#18 ·
You might find this interesting. The following paragraph is from a FSIS/USDA approved raising claims document:

Without Growth Hormones or Routine Antibiotics or No Added Hormones or Raised Without Growth Hormones or Without Growth Hormones or No Routine Use of Antibiotics or No Routine Antibiotics - We do not routinely feed antibiotics (including ionophores and any other substance that has antibiotic activity. No routine feeding of antibiotics including ionophores in feed, water or intra-muscular injection.), hormones or appetite stimulants to our pigs. In an emergency we will use antibiotics for clear medical purposes to fight infection. If the hormones claim is used on the label it also must have “*Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones.”​

The USDA/FSIS label approval section is quite aware of the use of the term on labels that hormones are not used and simply require the small print in the last line shown above in quotes. No big deal. It is not misleading and disingenuous. It is fact.

-Walter
 
#21 ·
http://tuckermilling.com/14-hog-finisher/

Wheat Middlings, Corn, Soybean Meal, Grain By-Products, Calcium Carbonate, Pork Meat and Bone Meal As a Protein Source, Salt, Lysine, Corn Distillers Dried Solubles, Corn Distillers Dried Grains, Rice Mill By-Products, Dried Extracted Streptomyces Fermentation Solubles, Dried Fermented Corn Extractives, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement (stability improved), D-Activated Animal Sterol (source of Vitamin D3, stability improved), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K Activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Corn Cob Fractions, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin, Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Carbonate, Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Zinc Oxide, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite, BHT (preservative), Ethoxyquin (preservative).

RUMINANT MEAT AND BONE MEAL FREE

What I really liked about that one was they not only use sterol which is a steroid alcohol but 6th ingredient in is swine eat swine but it make since the USDA has to do something with all that utility grade pork.
 
#22 ·
You can stick by your statement all you want but a sterol is not a growth promoting hormone no matter what Wikipedia says. The Animal Sterols you see on an animal feed tag is for Vitamin D, not a growth promoting hormone.

The fact still remains, pigs in the United States are NOT fed growth promoting hormones. Ractopamine is not a hormone, it acts to help increase the cells ability to utilize energy.
http://tuckermilling.com/14-hog-finisher/

Wheat Middlings, Corn, Soybean Meal, Grain By-Products, Calcium Carbonate, Pork Meat and Bone Meal As a Protein Source, Salt, Lysine, Corn Distillers Dried Solubles, Corn Distillers Dried Grains, Rice Mill By-Products, Dried Extracted Streptomyces Fermentation Solubles, Dried Fermented Corn Extractives, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement (stability improved), D-Activated Animal Sterol (source of Vitamin D3, stability improved), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K Activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Corn Cob Fractions, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin, Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Carbonate, Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Zinc Oxide, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite, BHT (preservative), Ethoxyquin (preservative).

RUMINANT MEAT AND BONE MEAL FREE

What I really liked about that one was they not only use sterol which is a steroid alcohol but 6th ingredient in is swine eat swine but it make since the USDA has to do something with all that utility grade pork.
That sterol is not a steroid!!! It is an animal derived source of Vitamin D. You can scream it all you want but you are wrong, it is not a growth promoting steroid.

Pork meat and bone meal is a good source of both protein and energy for pigs.
 
#25 ·
You can stick by your statement all you want but a sterol is not a growth promoting hormone no matter what Wikipedia says. The Animal Sterols you see on an animal feed tag is for Vitamin D, not a growth promoting hormone.

The fact still remains, pigs in the United States are NOT fed growth promoting hormones. Ractopamine is not a hormone, it acts to help increase the cells ability to utilize energy.


That sterol is not a steroid!!! It is an animal derived source of Vitamin D. You can scream it all you want but you are wrong, it is not a growth promoting steroid.

Pork meat and bone meal is a good source of both protein and energy for pigs.

Sorry if it seems like I am screaming at you. We all have our own right to our own opinion. :)
 
#23 ·
Nope, all that utility grade pork does not go into hog feed. All the old 900 pound stinky boars go into pepperoni. All the teets a dragging old sows go into name brand sausage.
All the waste from the above, plus all the waste from hog slaughter gets ground up cooked and repossessed into various products. Lipstick, for example. Any pork meat that goes into feed would be what couldn't be ground up and made into pepperoni, sausage or dog food.
By the time you get to the sixth ingredient, you are down to small amounts, following ground limestone.
For my preferences, I'd question wheat middlings as the main ingredient and a poorly described grain bi-products.
 
#24 ·
http://tuckermilling.com/14-hog-finisher/

Wheat Middlings, Corn, Soybean Meal, Grain By-Products, Calcium Carbonate, Pork Meat and Bone Meal As a Protein Source, Salt, Lysine, Corn Distillers Dried Solubles, Corn Distillers Dried Grains, Rice Mill By-Products, Dried Extracted Streptomyces Fermentation Solubles, Dried Fermented Corn Extractives, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement (stability improved), D-Activated Animal Sterol (source of Vitamin D3, stability improved), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K Activity), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Corn Cob Fractions, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin, Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Carbonate, Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Zinc Oxide, Cobalt Carbonate, Sodium Selenite, BHT (preservative), Ethoxyquin (preservative).

RUMINANT MEAT AND BONE MEAL FREE
I just reviewed this feed and there is no way I would feed it to my pigs. With Wheat Middlings as the first ingredient and Grain By-Products as third this feed will be a low energy feed. This is supported by the tag guarantees of 3% for fat and 11% for fiber. Additionally there are no supplemental amino acids to provide balanced ratios and no specialty ingredients to support the immune system.

For reference this type of feed would use about 20 pound of Calcium Carbonate, with the meat and bone listed below it there is really very little in this feed. With the tag guarantees I don't see that it helps the feed at all.
 
#26 ·
2, 3, 5 and 7, plus everything from Riboflavin on down, except the preservatives. I don't see selenium, so I'd want that if the corn was grown on selenium deficient land or the pigs are pastured on selenium deficient soil.
Corn meal from whole corn, ground soybean, calcium carbonate, mineral salt and vitamins.
 
#29 · (Edited)
So your hogs eat "locally grown, non-herbicide crops from a small farmer"? Include that in your ad.
Would like to get your opinion on antibiotics. Some comm. feeds have antibiotics in the feed. McDonald, Sanderson, and Denny Pork, Beef, and Chicken has antibiotics in the meat from the feed the animals have been fed. A lot of people have been asking these companies to stop using this meat that has high levels of antibiotics in it. I do not use any feed that has antibiotics in it.

Sanderson says that antibiotics in there meats does no harm to people.
McDonald and Denny is just not saying much and is trying to dodge the bullet. :)
People feed their kids McDonald food about the most unhealthy food one can eat.
 
#30 ·
Not sure who you are directing the question to but me personally does not feel that a injection of penicillin once or twice will hurt the consumer in the end as long as proper withdrawal is practiced. in the feed 24/7/365 I can see how it could have a adverse affect.
 
#32 ·
Not really. Some types of antibiotics are in animal feed to stimulate appetite. These are always a different class of antibiotics that human may use. Plus there are standard withdrawal times. The antibiotics don't just stay in the animal the rest of it's life.
If there is information about antibiotics in the meat purchased by the companies you listed, I'd like to learn about it, unless you got it from naturalnews or Dr. Mercola. Then don't bother.
Big operations do not avoid disease outbreaks by feeding drugs, they avoid disease outbreaks by establishing good biosecurity protocols.
It is perfectly fine to inject organic livestock with antibiotics. It is done all the time.
 
#36 ·
Yes really. I have been to over 25 hog factories in Mo.Tenn,and Ill. They all use med. hog feed (Anitibioties) in the feed their hog. Keeps them from getting sick.
I don't use medicated feed. My customers won't have it regardless of who may approve of it.
USDA have been trying to banned these feed.

These antibiotics have been banned from use in Europe for a few years. Their testing showed the connection to food that is served to the general public that has antibiotics in it. The big pigs farms have been fighting this ban for a few years now. They will loose in the long run.

All my customers demand antibiotic free meat. They are the boss and i give them what they ask for.
I don't use medicated feed. My customers won't have it regardless of who may approve of it.
I don't use medicated feed. My customers won't have it regardless of who may approve of it.
I don't use medicated feed. My customers won't have it regardless of who may approve of it.
Antibiotics are banned from pig feed in Europe. Has been for years. People I sell to demand antibiotics free pork. SThats what they get from me.
 
#34 ·
I agree with HAYPOINT and KRACKIN. Keeping diseases out is all about security of your livestock. I personally will keep my eye on other producers practises and when I buy new live stock they go into quarantine for 90 days and I do a lot to them before they clear to be let in with the rest of the herd. One of which is a shot of Penicillin, B-12, and wormer along with being tagged and watch and worked with to check their temperament.

Now I do agree with keeping certain things out of feed and livestock is a good rule of thumb. But only because of my aunt and she is the only person I have ever seen or heard of like this but she is allergic to beef but not veal. She became allergic to beef when she was 12 because from what I was told her and my mom passed a nasty virus back and forth for like two months.
 
#50 · (Edited)
Good morning Haypoint. Talking to Mc D's local manage may not get you any info. on how their meat is raised except wht they are told to say. He is there to sale a product and not there to say how the meat is raised because he may not know what you are talking about and just has a sales line of what he has been told to say. I have a friend here that has 8 McD's in Southeast, Mo. He can feed me a line a mile long and I still don't know what is in his meat except as he puts it , it is the best in the world. :)

I have 7 friends (farmers) that has good field raised Pork,Beef,Chinkens, and Turkey, etc. All raised out in pastures and woods. Most of them raise their own home grown food.

You can google , Trulinegenetics, Pigs. and get the link to one of the farms I have done business with. They have been in business since 1958 and have good pasture raised pork also.
 
#53 ·
I know for a fact USDA pulls blood samples from livestock processed. What can and do they test for in those blood samples they pull? Can they even test for and tell if there were antibiotics in the feed and such.
 
#64 ·
Link doesn't work for me. Antibiotics uncommon. LOL that is really an understatement. The finished product in the restaurants is what really counts. There are thousands of test that shows how much antibiotics is in the finished meat. The USDA has been trying to get this problem fixed for years. And just lately it has been a real problem as there is so much of it in the finished product.

Ok end of story :)
 
#63 ·
The articles I have read about allergy to meat talk about the lone star tick transmitting a disease which causes allergy to alpha-gal and a reaction to some red meats including pork and beef. This can be detected by a blood test.

I have also seen plenty of people claim allergies falsely to justify their personal choices in diet. Quite different from really having a disease or allergy.

Fortunately it is a free universe (you get what you paid for, sometimes) and they don't have to eat beef.

-Walter
 
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