28 August, 2009
We’ve decided to send Dido, one of our Berkshire gilts that was to have been used as a breeding sow, to the abattoir.
She’s a lovely looking example of the Berkshire breed with the added merit of gaining weight almost as fast as the boars on less feed, making her a very cost effective pig with genetics worth passing to the next generation.
However, two potential sales have fallen through and in our current situation we can’t afford to keep her on.
At the same time, one of the two boars that’s due for slaughter next week has an injury that’s likely to lead to some of his carcass being condemned.
We have two buyers for butchered half pigs, which means we need enough pork to meet their orders as well as supply us with six months of meat for the freezer.
The combination of factors means that Dido will be sent to slaughter.
Ironically, she’s actually worth more as pork than as a breeding animal so we’ll get a better return this way.
As a pedigree breeding gilt we’d be lucky to get £130-150 for her and make a loss, but as pork we’ll get £240 and come out £20 ahead.
Berkshire gilts are normally 10 percent smaller than boars at 28 weeks, when we send them for slaughter. However, Dido (on the right) is actually slightly larger than the boars from her litter, with broader shoulders and deeper flanks.
There’s less difference across the hams, but Dido is still larger. One boar was slightly bigger than Dido at weaning, the other was noticeably larger. The size difference between the boars has remained the same, but Dido has outgrown both of them—and on 150 grammes less food per day. Unfortunately, customers are too short-sighted to grasp the benefits of a more cost-effective sow and the benefits her off-spring are likely offer.
so sorry, if i lived on that side of the ocean i definately would take a pig off your hands at a fair price.
People come to buy the pigs, are shocked to discover there are less than 300 Berkshire breeding sows left, say they like to support rare breeds, express disappointment that there are so few people breeding rare breed pigs in the area, say they hate the modern emphasis on cheap meat, and say they’d like to come back to us in the future for more pigs.
Then, having said all that, they are not prepared to pay the cost of production—let alone the cost plus a small margin.
If we make a loss, then we can’t keep breeding pigs, the number of breeding sows drops further (and one of our lines is not only the oldest sow line but is increasingly rare), the number of piglets being sold drops, and those people then find there are even fewer pig breeders to get good quality stock from.
But they either can’t see it or are too intent on getting their pigs cheap.
If I may be so bold as to ask, have you considered marketing your meat products instead of your pigs? You might have a look at the menus of some of the more popular or upscale restaurants in your area and see how your pork fits in with their menus, and then contact the chefs with offers to supply them with hand raised heritage pork. Perhaps locals would like to buy sausages, cured meats, salamis etc. without fillers and added preservatives?
Bonjour!
Like the first comment, we are just too far away to come and buy your sow. We’re in our third year of raising pigs for our own consumption, starting with Kune Kunes, then Gloucester Old Spots last year and now a pair of Berkshires, bread locally here in France. (An English lady who has one sow and one boar).
Would you do me a favour, please? Stop by our own blog, where I’ve posted some pics of our pigs and tell us what you think of their shape. We overfed our Kunes a lot, the GOSs a bit and are hoping to get the Berkshires spot on. Thank you.
One of the people with a potential interest in purchasing Dido emailed me this morning to say he was still interested in purchasing her. Of course, she’s now been slaughtered so it does show how important it is to make a decision quickly when considering the purchase of livestock.
Livestock breeders like ourselves cannot keep stock on, week after week, as we wait for customers to make up their mind. Space is often at a premium, particularly on smaller holdings, animals have to be fed, and cash flows have to be maintained.
If an animal doesn’t sell as soon as possible after it has reached a saleable age or size, then it takes up space, costs money to feed and house, and leaves an income shortfall that can leave a farm strapped for cash.
When that happens, the excess animal has to be moved on as soon as possible and for as much money as can be achieved. There is no time to wait and no time to waste.
In addition, potential customers have to make an effort to maintain contact. When potential buyers make contact, I get back to them as soon as possible with the information they desire. If they don’t get back to me I have to assume they don’t have a genuine interest in the livestock—otherwise I’d be phoning or emailing people every day, and I have a lot of other things to do.
If someone gets back to me after receiving the information, I’ll give them a higher priority and invite them over to see the animals. Once they’ve seen the animals, I’ll follow their visit up with a couple of phone calls or emails, or both, depending on their preference.
If they don’t respond to the follow ups, I have to assume their interest is not there and, again, get on with other things.
If days or, as happens, weeks go by without contact from the potential customer to follow up my calls and emails, then I’ll have moved the animal on to someone else or sold it for slaughter. We’re not a shop, we don’t carry a constant level of stock at the right age and size to sell, and we can’t carry surplus animals until the customer is ready to make a decision.
So, if you want to buy livestock, respond quickly when the breeder/producer gets in touch, make an informed decision in a timely fashion, communicate that decision to the breeder/producer, pay for the livestock as quickly as agreed, and collect the livestock by the agreed date. Don’t wait weeks or you’ll find you’ve lost the opportunity.
We’ve just been paid for two pigs, so that’s some much needed cash flow to keep us going while we wait for Abbey to sort out our accounts. Unfortunately, we made yet another loss.