i have sponsors for some of my current batch of porkers, two whole ones for one chap, and three other people have 1/2 a pig. all they seem to be bothered about is when and how much pork they will get. although one chap wants to do the full hfw pig in a day thing including black pudding. it has helped with costs and will provide a guaranteed figure at the end. though i havn't done this for profit, just because my friends were interested in getting some free range rare breed pork at the same time i was getting into pigs as a hobby. the one chap with two pigs,simon, has brought his kids to look at them but went indoors quickly beacuase of the weather not being to his liking. I think it is a good plan for smallholders to get a bit of outside interest in their livestock to help cover costs, but what happens if things go wrong and there is no end product? . as all they are basically doing is covering the marginal costs and not any of the other overheads it is difficult to see a commercial goldmine. but as i say it helps justify the activity and will hopefully help keep rare breeds on the go. of course there is the beautiful tasty pork, and the joy of looking after such interesting animals. but it also offers the challenge to smallholders of making a go it, doing some marketing and networking and increasing interest in other things you may be doing. ie. sell them eggs, veg and chicken etc as well as pork.
