[Fowgill Farm]

Oh FiBob you just picked the wrong time to come an asking (do we have an olive branch motif!) blinkin atrotious weather which means most of us are in crap up to the eyeballs, feed prices going thro roof, i have to deal with a badly injured pig today which hasn't helped my personal temper and xmas is a coming at a vast rate of knots..................
at that i rest the case for the defence
mandy

[kja]

not everybody is losing money.
there are some succesful buisness models out there. have a search.....

in general pig farmers are loosing money hand over fist, closing units down, sending in pig sows off to slaughter in large numbers, feed prices no one knows what next months bill is going to be its a nightmare.

my parents got out of pigs in the 80's when a similar pattern started whole herds were shot and units like the one next door never to have pigs again they had over 3 thousand.

a small sacle producer stands more chance of making money from selling pedigree pork but that market is limited.

times are hard and lots of breeders are loosing money but sticking it out to save their chosen breed.

on a number of occasions in the show ring commentators have asked how many of us would be out next year in these uncertain times.

[FiBob]

Olive branch received! And I did read about what's happened - I hope he's ok, and it's not the worst case scenario. A lot of what I've read recently has really made me think, and I don't think, to the normal average joe, we realise how hard it is for farmers in general to keep going, and just how many factors play a role in what you do.

I've gotten to the stage where, although I'd like to keep asking questions, I'd like to learn more than I need to about the farming way of life, and integrate myself a little in your community

I've been reading a lot today about the quality of grass and how this is affecting the quality and growth of lambs - is this the same for pigs?

[kja]

pig feed is determind on world grain prices this years harvest was poor in both quality and quantity some crop failed in america pushing world prices sky high pig feed is rising week on week whilst pork prices are flat not a good place for anyone to be atm.

[FiBob]

Thanks kja!!! You guys are truly wonderful for sharing your knowledge! I'm going to have to repay the favour somehow!

[Fowgill Farm]

pig feed is determind on world grain prices this years harvest was poor in both quality and quantity some crop failed in america pushing world prices sky high pig feed is rising week on week whilst pork prices are flat not a good place for anyone to be atm.

Just to give you an idea i paid last month £330 for a tonne of pig feed which is 40 bags, i use a bag a day so it doesn't last long. My pork prices are the same now as they were 4yrs ago even though my input costs have gone up my margins has gone from being quite healthy to barely breaking even (that what i tell OH  but truthfully i'm subbing my pigs bank account) i can't put prices up because i'll lose the few customers i do have. Bear in mind i am only a hobby keeper and only do my pork 2 or 3 times a year to subsidise my pig keeping. we await the Australian harvest with interest becoz if they have a bad time of it the poo will really hit the fan.
Mandy

[FiBob]

Thanks for the insight, and sharing those details, Mandy Everything you guys are sharing with me is really helping!

[kja]

Thanks kja!!! You guys are truly wonderful for sharing your knowledge! I'm going to have to repay the favour somehow!

just make sure you spread the word to buy british ......even better rare breed  thats why most of us keep these breeds.

our pigs dont pay for them selfs  if i factor in the cost of shows with the price of feed & fuel its a expensive hobby ............thats why i keep sending OH out to work.

this year i only sent off 10 pigs to slaughter the usual would have been 30ish as people are finding it hard to pay the bills.

on the plus side i have sold some breeding pigs and all the weaners have sold .....i am keeping my fingers crossed for the spring with 3 pigs due to farrow in january i will have a few to move on.

[Polished Arrow]

Yep, my feed bill (for pigs only) went up by 14.4% last month.  We are foraging to try to keep bills down.  We assume there will be further increases, but no one tells us in advance. 


Late August 1 tonne pellets = £343
Mid Oct same bag =£387
Today same bag =£387


I am now putting the pigs back onto Sow and Weaner pellets as it is £339 a tonne this month, which is closer to what I have budgeted for this year.


The piglets will go to slaughter from the beginning of Jan to mid Feb, in batches of 2 - 3 a week.


I am pleased that our next farrowing won't be until April when foraging should be improving again.  I plan to plant out some fast growing forage crops in the piglet pens ready for when they are weaned later in the spring.  We will have lost some income by delaying, but at least won't be paying out non-existent cash.  That and the market is pretty full of pork at the moment what with people practically giving pigs away as they can't afford to feed them

[rispainfarm]

i agree, some people are making a profit albeit small, I wouldn;t mind speaking to someone who is making money just to find out how they are doing it. It can be done thats for sure. I find it so sad so many pig people are giving up.

[Fowgill Farm]

iI find it so sad so many pig people are giving up.

It is very sad and i think that not only have high ever escalating feed prices  contributed but our shocking weather, you need to have a plan B for it and an awful lot of people just don't have the means/facilities for that. My numbers over this winter are certainly down and both feed and facilities are factors.
Mandy

[hughesy]

Feed costs are very worrying that's for sure. It'd be interesting to hear how pig keeping as a business fits in with people's smallholding activity as a whole. For example we keep poultry as well as pigs and there are times that the humble chickens are paying the bills and the pigs are subsidised by this income. Not many smallholders rely on just one income stream and it's swings and roundabouts with different things bringing the cash in at different times.

[oaklandspigs]

FiBoB - You should be monitoring the NPA website, and getting the BPEX and EBLEX updates, as all these will help you understand issues.
 
http://www.npa-uk.org.uk/Pages/LionsDen.html
 
http://www.bpex.org/news/BPEX-weekly/
 
http://www.eblex.org.uk/news/ - with sihn up to newsletter on right

[FiBob]

Thanks for the links! I keep up to date with BPEX and EBLEX but not the other one, so thank you You guys have been such a help, I understand the area a little better now, and will work hard to continue adding to the wealth of knowledge you have all already provided!

[Hassle]

As pointed out above, feed prices vary, the reason: the bulk of it is grain and therefore futures.
There are varying items that effect grain prices, fuel for example not only to haul but also as a future, if the risk increases in the supply of fuel from say Saudi then some investment houses will try to limit the risk by switching to an item more stable.... sometimes that is grain. This will of course push up the cost of grain. Other items that effect cost of grain are world markets; Russia requires grain to feed the masses if it's own harvests failed plus America stopped supplying maybe due to it's own failing harvest, (this would have been the reason it came over the border for WW3) then Russia would look to the world market to buy it's grain. In the last few years Australia and America have had serious crop failures in some regions.  Also another factor is our own HMRC, for farmers that do well these guys turn up with briefcases and smack you around the chops with a Bill, now you never know if that crop in the field is going to do very well so instead of selling all the grain in your own sheds you hold back and at least wait until after April before you sell .. again keeping prices possibly artificially high. 
But then you guys with your economics and farming degrees know all this.. me I just keep ploughing the fields shouting at dog walkers who think right to roam is across the middle of a field and watching the annual change of bank manager with brighter and shinyer car keep turning up