[princesspiggy]

i would love to raise weaners to finishing and sell direct to a butcher. before i approach any? does anyone have any advice? what price would you ask and are u paid per kilo? dead or live weight, who pays for killing? any do's and don'ts? how far in advance would you start making contacts? could be a year before i have any to send away.

[princesspiggy]

forgot to say theyd be birth-notified tamworths. also i looked at meat marketing schemes but nearest place to me was 210 miles away.

[oaklandspigs]

PP,
This is a difficult market to enter.

Firstly your butcher will have an existing relationship with one or more suppliers.  If you are only occasionally selling to him, he will need to upset his existing relationship to buy from you.  eg He buys 2 pigs a week from Fred blogs wholesalers, but this week you want him to buy two from you, and then his wholesaler will have to find another outlet for the two he has, and may not be so keen to supply your butcher next time, leaving your butcher short as the wholesaler has sold them to a new customer.   

Many butchers will have contracts to buy xx pigs per week from their wholesaler, so cannot just buy from you this week.

Secondly if you buy say 8 pigs to finish off, and the butcher wants two a week, then when they are ready, you will kill two a week for 4 weeks, meaning that you are feeding 6 longer than needed, and 2 of them for a  month longer than needed, eating in to profit. 

Again say if you buy say 8 pigs to finish off, and the butcher wants two a week, the difference in the first to the last in terms of size would be significant, and if your butcher wants say 60kg pigs, then only one pair over 4 weeks are likely to meet his requirements, so most of what you supply would be over or under target.
Butchers will want to buy on quality, and your butcher doesn't know you from Adam, and you have no track record.  If he agrees to buy he may end up with something that has loads of fat, is too big, too small, wrong shape etc.  Therefore he is likely to be very wary.

Given all the above, if you do interest a butcher, he is not likely to pay much per KG for them, and you may well end up making a loss.

Finally you have the choice – do you approach a butcher now to ensure an end market, but are selling something that won’t be ready for 4 months, with the risk that he will change his mind between now and then.  Or do you finish some pigs and then try and find a butcher who wants them, potentially being left with pigs that no-one wants.

OK, so that’s all the bad news, but several on this and other forums do sell occasional pigs to butchers, so by all means try, but go into this with your eyes wide open. 
I suspect that you would make little in the way of profit (the money’s in selling pork direct to customers not pigs to butchers), but could be fun to see if you can make it work.

Either way, good luck and don’t shoot the messenger !

[HappyHippy]

I agree with Oaklands - 100% 
I did contact a few butchers when I had my first lot, no-one was interested - for all the reasons listed.
We get our pigs butchered and packed and sell to friends and family. Hopefully in time, we'll be able to attend farmers markets with our excess (if we have any leftover  ) I think this is the best option in terms of making (a little) profit, but it certainly does mean more work & stress 
Where abouts are you ? You'll find your local area will have a farmers market group, it might be worth considering that. Plus it's a great way of letting people know who you are and what you do - it all helps when it comes to selling !

[robert waddell]

what oaklands has said i would have said as well            also they can buy what ever cuts they want try breeding a 12 ft long pig to supply the chop market also you have to concider the breeding programme say 8 piglets per litter+time to reach their specified weight +pregnancy time selling two per wk =104 finished pigs thats 13 litters per year now if you are still interested in committing financial suicide you have to factor into the equation the jolly butcher aspect buy cheap and sell dear also location of said jolly butcher the area and spending habits of his clientele can double the selling price that he charges or reduce it       its a difficult decision that only you can make remember no one will take you under their wing just in case you take their outlet

[robert waddell]

with farmers markets you are cutting into some other producers sales not that they come from a 10 mile radius of the market just my point of view

[oaklandspigs]

Quick extract from another forum, posted a coupel of days ago (breed is GOS)

1st pig sold to our local butcher whole £160 (£3.23 per Kg (ish))
2nd pig sold to friends and family cut into joints £320
3rd pig kept for me.

You can see that you can double your money for selling direct
 

[robert waddell]

presuming the pigs weighed the same  they charged £6.60 per kilo to friends and family but was the butcher paying the killing charges    figures can be turned into what you want  but these prices are good given the weight and not having to pay slaughter charges and butchery charges

[princesspiggy]

thanx guys, so how do u sell at farmers markets legally. get pigs killed, get them cut into packages and vacuum packed,
wot do u do after that? need refridgerated van to transport meat home and to market? is it enough to just store in fridges at home or need washables floor etc in room where stored? need health inspector / license?

[robert waddell]

it depends on the day of the farmers market IE market day Saturday cut and package Friday  killed on Tuesday it seems your determined on this  one thats a start next is enquire at your farmers market as to what they require IE stand certificates hygiene etc then trading standards as regards labeling hygiene packaging etc good luck you will need it and lots of it

[shetlandpaul]

you will need a chilled display at the markets. we have two butchers who do our farmers markets and ive seen them struggle to get them into the halls. but if selling to friends and family then you could just pick the meat up from the butcher and drop it off. i doubt that your friends and family will mind. but to charge family twice as much as the butcher seems a bit mean.

[robert waddell]

shetlandpaul thats my point two butchers its a farmers market the main producer not some ////////// what i would say is trade decreption

[princesspiggy]

but if selling to friends and family then you could just pick the meat up from the butcher and drop it off.

what if you sold direct to local villagers as opposed to friends. dont want to do it dodgy as would like to sell a fair few a year.

[robert waddell]

friends and family is ok for you doing the butchery but not for selling to the public only meat prepared in licenced premises can be sold to the public

[princesspiggy]

IDEALLY -  id love to have 2-4 breeding sows and sell best gilts for breeding and keep rest to finishing. (i have alot of woodland and main road frontage). just need to find a way that covers their costs and make a bit of profit.
we're gona start by selling weaners, but thats my dream.