Half & Whole Pork Available

It’s been a second since I’ve had a moment to pause. Our sale went off without a hitch & we reduced our show pig prospects by a little over half! We had no idea what to expect, but we’re grateful for the results. That being said, we still have quality project prospects, so make plans to come see what we have to offer before you order tags for majors later this month.

Naturally, with any livestock, some are good and some just don’t make the cut. We’ve got a pen of “feeders” that have been culled from the prospects. It’s little things really, ears that don’t want to be straight up, a random white sock on a duroc, or a goofy tail set. Fortunately, none of these things affect them for consumption. As the season progresses, we may cull some from our girls’ own projects to be sure we’re taking the right pigs to the right shows. It’s a whole situation.

All of this to say, we will be selling pork, or the live animal if you will, for processing. Before anyone’s jaw hits the ground on the price, let’s break it down & give you a better idea of how this whole process works!

We would sell you the live animal, either as a half or whole. Yes, you can buy half of an animal, it’s an actual thing. If you don’t have someone to go in on an animal with, let us know & we can find someone. You would pay us directly for your half or whole, (deposit of 1/2 required to reserve your animal, and other half due before processing date) and we would continue to feed & care for your reserved animal until it’s processing date. Some of these pigs have been “feeders” from day 1, while others are culled throughout the show season. We have processing appointments scheduled for November & December of 2023, and will be obtaining more in January & February 2024. The day of the processing appointment, we will deliver your live animal to the processing facility (if you don’t want to use our processor, we will deliver up to 60 miles from 76465 but you have to secure the appointment). From there, you’ll be in communication with the processor to select your cuts. There are actually quite a few ways you can cut a hog, so if you need help deciphering which cuts are what so that you know what’s going to end up in your freezer, we’ll be happy to help. Typically, your meat will be ready to pickup in 1-2 weeks. You will pickup your meat from the processor & pay them for their services.

So what’s the cost? For our portion (the live animal) and the rising cost of feed, our prices for Fall 2023-Winter 2024 are $300 for a half & $600 for a whole, so that’s $150/$300 deposit upfront, and the remainder can either be paid out monthly or as a 2nd installment the day before your processing appointment.

The last pig we took to the processor for our own consumption was 250lbs live weight/175lbs hanging weight for a total of $335 in processing fees. That’s a lot of meat. Our cuts included ground pork, ground breakfast sausage, jalapeño cheddar links, pork loin, pork loin chops, tenderized cutlets, jowls & hocks, and bacon.

So if you break that down – it’s $600 for a live animal weighing approximately 250lbs, and about $335 for processing, add that up & divide it by 175lbs of hanging weight – and our average was $5.34/lb.

Yes, it is a large investment because of the quantity, but it’s still cheaper than buying all of those cuts at the grocery store if you can even find them. It’s an investment in quality & food security. You know where it came from, who cared for it, how it was cared for, and who processed it. You can’t get that in a grocery store.

If you play your cards right & put a deposit down early, then it’s not quite sticker shock paying it all at once. If you’re in the market to have a pig processed, please let us know/make a deposit by the end of the month so we know how many pigs we will be feeding out & for who. The deposit helps pay for feed for your animal until processing. Your deposit is non-refundable.

If you’re thinking, I could never eat that much pork…it’s always nice to share with friends & loved ones. And as long as your freezer doesn’t go out, it’ll last well over a year. We like how versatile pork is. We regularly mix ground pork & ground deer meat together for tacos or meatballs, and breakfast sausage has just enough spices to make delicious meatballs & meatloaf, and I’ve even subbed it into a zuppa tuscano soup. Breakfast sausage can be eaten alone, in burritos, in a quiche or breakfast muffins. Bacon disappears quickly when we cook it. It’s stupid good. Jalapeño sausage links can be wrapped up in a tortilla with kraut, or cut up and put into cabbage soup. Cutlets can be cut up & seasoned for stir fry, or breaded and fried like chicken fried steak. I could talk about all the ways to cook pork all day long. Maybe that’s a post for another day…

If you’re still reading this, give us a call to make a deposit on one of our feeders today! Chris Elston (254) 434-3631 – leave a message & he will get back to you.