I'm just curious. Is there anyone out there actually making a living from breeding/raising/selling pigs? I just can't seem to make the math work but, admittedly, I'm a newbie to pigs having only raised 6-7 for the freezer.
It's all in the management, find a good way to manage it and you've got it made, of course, don't get me wrong here, raising pigs isn't a way to get rich quick by any means but they will support themselves and yield a fair profit for the small farmer or factory farmer.
We make our family's living raising pastured pigs using managed rotational grazing. We sell the pork on our weekly delivery route to stores, restaurants and individuals year round. Farming is what we do and it's the pigs who bring home the bacon. We have about 400 pigs on pasture with about 60 breeders and have been doing it for a bit over a decade. We do enough steady week to week volume that it is worth us building our own on-farm USDA/State inspected meat processing plant which is about to open. See: http://SugarMtnFarm.com/pigs It works for us with our inclinations and our resources. No get rich quick but it is a good life. Cheers, -Walter
That is true to a point. If feed is high and pork is low, then breaking even might be as good as it gets. Corn is down compared to years past so you may be right. Someone is always selling something, remember that and only pay a reasonable price. Just like any financial bubble... livestock prices can and do tumble, don't count your chickens before they hatch.
Wow! 400 pigs multiplied by a modest $400.00 per pig per year puts you at well over $150,000.00 per year profit! And now you will sell them under USDA licensing through your butcher shop... you can practically double your profits! Zero feed costs and your customer base must be huge! Commercial accounts no doubt... And then that Bruce fellow that offered you $10,000.00 just to raise Four feeder size pigs up to slaughter weight using nothing more than your acclaimed pasture feeding program. You must have cleaned up on that huh? People can read about the challenge here... http://ebeyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/11/10000-sugar-mountain-farm-challenge.html?m=1
You can definitely make a living by raising pigs, the demand for pork will always be there and there's room for anyone to supply the demand.
