What to charge for pork.

Mark W. · Apr 16, 2014

Just had two pigs butchered and a lot smoked. Have several "friends" that want to buy some product but have no idea what to charge. Have bacon, ham, chops, 4 different sausages, and ribs. Any thoughts on price?

Dick2 · Apr 16, 2014

The simple answer is: don't sell any of it. If anyone gets sick for any reason, related or not, they will be mad at you. No matter what you would charge them, they will think you could have sold it for less. Just ain't worth it.

LAA · Apr 16, 2014

What do you have in it and what type of return do you think is reasonable? I would not consider selling processed meat for less than 40% return. When you consider the price of everything these days it is still cheap. If you sell something you could use yourself you have to consider the cost of replacing what you are losing as well as a profit.

colekicker · Apr 16, 2014

Really? They asked him about it.

Guess if you have a garden and have enough you could pass on or sell, you'd just rather it rot than the off chance of being liable?

You probably don't take any medicine because of the possible side effects?

farmerwithmutt · Apr 16, 2014

I asked the butcher what they were charging for a bundle or 1/2 a pig. he didnt mind me asking he bought 2 live pigs liked pastured pork i guess

rrlund · Apr 16, 2014

I just copied this off the local slaughter house's site. Might give you something to go by.

TomA in CA · Apr 16, 2014

I refuse to buy the factory raised pork in the stores and restaurants. I would think pastured pork would be priceless.

JRSutton · Apr 16, 2014

There's absolutely no way to answer that without knowing what you've got into them.

All you can do is base it on market prices.

Most people I know who raise a few pigs are reluctant to ask too much for it, even if they're going to lose money.

If people are coming to you to save money, let them raise their own pigs.

Sell the product - it's personally raised by you (assuming in good conditions) - drug and hormone free - fresh off the farm. Not sure where you live, but around here that's worth a premium to most people.

If they're friends you want to give a good deal to - well - market price minus a little.

Ray · Apr 16, 2014

I bought 10 pork chops from a local butcher shop two weeks ago that cost 11.50,yesterday 10 were 17.50.I'm in ohio.

jstpa · Apr 16, 2014

Dont know if this will help but we get a $1.35 a lb. hanging wieght plus the person pays the butcher. I've been told we should be getting at least $1.75. hth, jstpa

Nathan (SD) · Apr 16, 2014

Our local butcher is at $76 for about the same deal. That was 2 months ago. He might have gone up now. Aint no pigs to be had in these parts.

rustyacres sd · Apr 16, 2014

Bought a half hog from Brother's neighbor. It was 320+ pounds. My half was $116. plus butcher cost and smoking. Had ham's and bacon smoked. That part came close to $200. Sure taste great. Free range hog. will get another one when this one is gone.

bison · Apr 16, 2014

(quoted from post at 10:56:08 04/16/14) Just had two pigs butchered and a lot smoked. Have several "friends" that want to buy some product but have no idea what to charge. Have bacon, ham, chops, 4 different sausages, and ribs. Any thoughts on price?

o check prices in the grocery store and butcher shop.
Charge the same or better.
Home grown pork is a superior product, the price should reflect that, can't see a reason to lose money on it.

Super-H-Mike · Apr 16, 2014

What I do is take the futures price and the cash price from the day of sale and add together, then divide by 2 . The buyer pays the butcher shop separately.

farmerwithmutt · Apr 16, 2014

If you can sell pig as live that way the meat doesnt have to be inspected before its sold

J.Wondergem · Apr 16, 2014

When I was selling pork, I'd call the slaughter house and ask them and that's what I charged. Everyone seemed satisfied, because each year I had more customers.

dmiller · Apr 16, 2014

I get $200 a head for an approx. 250 lb hog, then they pay the butcher fee (roughly $180, depends on how much they want sausaged, smoked etc). Works out to about $2.50 a lb for the finished meat all cuts averaged.
I have a waiting list and from the sounds of it I'm a bit lower than the other small time pig guys in the area. I'm hearing prices of $225-280 a head for hogs in the 275-300 lb range.
My goal is to compare the final product to the store price and come in about the same.

redforlife · Apr 16, 2014

Brother sells his 225 to 275 ld hogs for right at $200 live weight. Hog market is up right now, so that is actually a touch to cheap. He will likely raise his price to match current markets. You can figure cost of actual meat out per pound with a calculator. To figure in the processing part of it, you are going to have to get prices from the locker. I can tell you this, smoking and cureing adds alot of expense to the processing. Make sure you know those costs, and pass that expense right along with the meat that it involved.

ih_bug · Apr 17, 2014

I charge .80 cents to $1 a lb live weight. depends who it is and what it is. any processing/killing fees are over and above.
if they want it cheaper let them raise there own ,they wont do it the second time.
Its not grocery store pork so i dont even compare. the same people keep coming back year to year.

showcrop · Apr 17, 2014

People always say they like to buy local because they "know where their food comes from". They also expect to pay more than the supermarket price.

just another old geezer · Apr 17, 2014

In January I bought a hog at a local Butcher shop. Nice tender meat with a great flavor. Cut,vacuum sealed with the hams and bacon smoked. It was $2.09 per pound.

Eldon (WA) · Apr 17, 2014

(quoted from post at 10:56:08 04/16/14) Just had two pigs butchered and a lot smoked. Have several "friends" that want to buy some product but have no idea what to charge. Have bacon, ham, chops, 4 different sausages, and ribs. Any thoughts on price?

We bought a half from a customer just to "buy local". She listed it at around $3.75 a lb for "great" pork. We paid $1.75 a lb hanging weight, and when I weighed the finished product we brought home it came out to over $5 a lb! This equated to over $500 for the hog (minus slaughter, cut and wrap). I questioned her about it and she gave me back $1 a lb....said someone made a mistake. As for quality, I don't find much difference from what I have bought in the store, bacon was actually worse, chops were very small for a 300# hog....

I think I will just stick to buying my tenderloin at Costco....and bacon from the pros.

Hal/ Eastern WA · Apr 17, 2014

We decided the same thing, and now buy small amounts of pork from the supermarket.

Our neighbor raises some hogs and wanted us to buy one, so we did. It was processed locally, but we just plain didn"t like the sausage, ham or bacon. I think we ended up tossing 30 pounds or more. The uncured pork was OK, but the whole thing ended up being way more expensive than buying what we wanted at the butcher shop.

And with all the kids gone, my wife and I just don"t eat all that much meat any more.

I also have found that pork does not last as long frozen as compared with beef. After not too long, pork gets an "off" taste, at least in my opinion. Good luck!

What to charge for pork.

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