[HomesteadBaker]

Just wondering what is a good price per pound hanging weight for a pig? I am in sw Nebraska, if it makes a difference.

Thanks.

Kitty

 

[RedHogs]

Hanging weight is so subjective....head, hide, feet??? The price on the hoof is the the only real good judge and then pull your numbers from that. I always do ,y math backwards....I can produce market hogs about 30-33 dollars cwt using off farm feed and can cut that in half with my own grain....I will walk away from adeal happy with .45 cents a pound on a large order of market hogs and 1.00 a pound on feeders and .65 cents a pound on shoats....This is beating market and making me a nice little profit for not much work at all. I sell my crops(as pork) for triple the going rate and my investment in cash is far out running if it was left in the bank. So a small producer, I think 50 cents a pound on the hoof would be fair to you and to your consumer.

Now, for the same effort you can raise registered breeding stock and sell the same size hog for many times more.

 

[highlands]

Kitty,

This varies tremendously with location and who you're selling to. Even within a state it will vary greatly. It also varies greatly with how the pig was raised and how much meat the buyer is buying - whole vs half, etc.

If you raise organic, certified naturally grown, pastured etc and sell direct to upscale consumers who care about quality, humanely raised meat in suburban areas you can probably get the best price.

So that didn't answer your question did it. Okay, here's one answer: we get about $3 (whole pig) to $4 (half pig) per pound for our certified naturally grown pastured pork near Montpelier, Vermont which is an upscale market. I get a bit more than that wholesale and about twice that retail which includes the butchering, transport costs, etc.

 

[TurnKey]

I'm just a hobbyist who raises about 5 or 6 pigs a year. 2 go in my freezer (shared with my adult children and their families), and the rest are sold to co workers. I am not certified organic but I do raise them without chemicals and on dirt/pasture. I feed a grain mix from the local feed mill as well as table scraps.

I get $1.25 per pound hang weight and buyer pays his processing seperately to the butcher. By hang weight I mean the hanging carcass without head, skin or hooves- ready to be cut up. My average weights are around 200 to 225 pounds per pig - Hang weight.

I don't pay any attention to what the market gets. I know what kind of product I provide and how much feed, work and care went into making it. I hope this helps.

BTW- I never have a problem selling at this price and could probably ask more per pound.