Anyone here raise hogs? Costs?

Like most things it takes scale to realize a profit. I know a few people who have grown out both hogs and broiler chickens and they hardly break even.

Off topic, but it's amazing how quickly a feral hog will revert back to being tame in a pen.

Thanks for the input. A friend and I were talking about the feasibility of raising hogs as a hobby and what it would it take to break even by raising a few (say 6), keeping one for yourself and selling the rest at a stockyard. Would be under the assumption that feed would be purchased (no sweetheart deals like noted above).

What would these typical costs be:
Purchase price
Feed/lb gained
Vet/other
Bedding/other consumables

Would it be possible to come out at $0 for this type of operation?

I sponsor a pig every year for students who want to show but cant afford the cost. I pay $475 ($225 for the pig and $250 for food)to the FFA chapter at my school. The student takes care of it and after showing season is over, the hogs are taken to slaughter & processed. I pay $45 dollars for a halved hog that gets smoked and turned into a fundraiser to recoupe some of my investment. I don't know if any of that is helpful, but maybe you got something out of it.

The market price per pound for hogs today (59 cents) is in the same ballpark as in the 1970s. But feed, land, fuel, etc. related to raising them has gone up by multiples.

There used to local farmers who raised hogs for profit, but those days are gone. It's all about economies of scale with huge factory farms, much like the poultry business.

You are dealing with two primary variables: Value of Gain and Cost of Gain. Let me show you how to determine each one.

1) Value of Gain: You start with a #45 Feeder Pig. He costs you 80c per pound ($36). You add #200 to him and sell him when he's #245. And that selling price is 60c per pound ($147). So you have picked up $111 for adding #200 of weight. That is a value of 55c per pound. That is your Value of Gain. (55)

2) Cost of Gain: Forget all the overhead costs, because this is just for fun. Depreciation, insurance, water, electricity, labor, repairs on the pen, diesel, etc. Throw those out the window because they will just make you depressed. Focus on you Feed Conversion Cost.

A hog will consume about 2.5 pounds of 15% protein feed for every pound of meat he puts on. Which is a remarkable conversion ratio (It is double or triple that for cows). So, for round numbers let's say feed is $350 per ton. That is 17.5c per pound. Multiply that by 2.5 and you get 43.75c.

So in this hypothetical you are making a Gross Profit of about 55 minus 43.75 x #200 pounds of gain per animal. That is $22.50 per pig.

But of course there are lots of other expenses. And you can't always sell your pigs for 60c. etc etc.

Right now the biggest asset that pig farmers have is that China has stopped buying US DDGS (byproduct of ehtanol production) because of bullshite GMO issues. (read Trade War). So, the price has dropped to about $120 per ton when bought in bulk. Thats down from $250 a couple of years ago. DDGS are 28% protein. So they are great hog feed. And cheap when you consider that my hypothetical above had swine feed at $350 per ton.

My guess would be that if you had a bit of pasture where the hogs could graze, and somewhere they could forage for acorns. And you supplemented with bulk DDGS. And you could find a niche market for "free range pigs" at about 90c or so per pound, then it might be a fun supplemental hobby.

But those are a lot of Ifs.....

Contact your local LSU AgCenter office and see if they do a parish livestock show/sale. They're always looking for potential buyers, most of the show/sales all fall in January. You'll get some quaility home grown meat and help out a kid involved in a great program as well.

quote:

---

I think it was 286 lbs.

---

On the hoof weight, or is that dressed weight?

We have a sale every year with about 30-40 pigs sold that were 4-H projects.

Our club also sponsors a kid whose family can't afford for them to do the project or doesn't have a place to keep one.

Same with our parish, probably 30-40 pigs sold last time I was around a few years ago. Lambs, goats, and steers too.