Posted by ChrisinMO on January 11, 2012 at 10:15:19 from (207.119.183.40):
Okay, so I got to thinking...
Working on the taxes and I was alarmed to find out how little net we made on hogs and layer chickens this year. When I think of the hours of labor, let's just say it was very disappointing.
The layers are a non-issue about cost. They still made a decent profit and excellent cash flow. Plus we mostly have them as a foot in the door kind of thing. We raise a large market garden, and people who come out to buy eggs or that my wife sells to in town or at farmers market will also normally buy produce in season.
The hogs, however, need to make a good profit. Obviously if your feeding growing pigs for months, and only culling sows every so often, then cash flow is going to be difficult. So I want to see a pretty good profit to make it worthwhile.
We have sold weaner/feeder pigs, butcher hogs live on the hoof, and also paid for inspected butchering and sold sausage and meat by the cut. Butcher shop charges in our area have been climbing steadily over the last three years (what else is new). So recently I have tried to sell most of the hogs on the hoof and let the customer pay the butcher.
The wild fluctuations in grain prices have driven me crazy. Unfortunately, when I need to buy lots of grain, the fluctuation tends to always be upward!
So, as I said, I got to thinking. Would it make any sense to grow say, 30-40 acres of corn, use a corn picker to harvest, feed cob corn and just buy the protein supplement? I've got the basic equipment, just not a planter or picker. Or maybe I should just accept the current price structure and price fluctuations as normal and try to get more for what I sell? Not to gore anyone's ox, but if I could feed non-GMO corn, there are quite a few people around here who have expressed an interest in buying pork. (I don't know whether they would also be willing to pay a premium for their meat.)
I realize I would be taking sizable risks that I could avoid by purchasing grain. I also realize that I am probably not going to be saving tons of money. I am just trying to figure out how to make this hog business more predictable, money-wise.
Sorry for being long-winded. I figure there are folks on here who might have interesting insights and I'd like to hear them.
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