All in all, for 2 nine month old hogs, I have a grand total of 485 lbs of pork for my freezer and, one more hog scheduled to be dropped off to the butcher when I pick up my smokehouse goodies.
It's my first livestock harvest that I've raised from weanling to butcher, to freezer and, onto my own plate and, the results have been nothing less than satisfying.
For 485 lbs of pork, my investment came out to about $140 in feed, $350 in butchering / smoking and, my own labor in keeping them sheltered with clean surroundings and, the $60 I paid for each of them from my neighbor down the road...so about $550 total for the both of them.
The good part? I already have a buyer for one whole butchered hog for $500 which pays damned near for raising the both of them which means that my remaining hog that will feed my family through next fall, cost me about $50.
After # 3 is butchered and sold, my freezer pork's price drops to zero cost and, it will pay for most, if not all of the feed cost for the next batch of piggies.
Will I ever get rich?
No but, I'll be eating and feeding my family damned near for free.
We have all the rabbit we can eat, all the pork we can eat, all the chicken and eggs we can eat and, in the spring...all the lamb we can eat.
Add that into all the tomatoes, potatoes, asparagus, strawberries, peppers, onions and garlic from the garden and, the plums, apples and pears from the trees...we're doing alright food wise!
Not too bad for my first season of owning my own farm!
5 comments:
Guess we know where the party is at. I'll bring the beer.
I am impressed. And you failed to mention how much more you enjoy eating, since you started raising it all yourself.
I just traded some carpentry skill for 22 fruit trees. A lot of apples, but some peaches and plums too.
I broke out a package of sausage patties late Saturday night and, they were damned tasty!
I'm dying to pick up my bacon this week when it done in the smokehouse.
All-in-all, living out here has been pretty satisfying. There were some learning curves and hoops along the way but, they're all just lessons on what to NOT do next season.
Johnny O, a buddy of mine got bored with his home brewing hobby and offered me his equipment to try it out myself...so when that party ever kicks off, you might only need to show up with a lawn chair!
In the State of Ohio, any groceries purchased in a store for personal consumption are tax exempt.
This personal consumption tax exemption also extends to the costs associated with raising livestock for home use. Even the land used to grow food for that livestock is exempt from property taxes.
Just about all the effort/paperwork required to obtain the exemptions is relatively easy and could save you thousands per year.
Alph,
THAT idea is something I'll certainly look into since all my livestock are grassfed and pasture raised.
Thanks for the tip!
Like I said, I'm still working on a learning curve where some things are concerned.
I knew that feed could be written off as an expense but, hadn't considered the grass I cultivate as feed into the equation.
Thanks!
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