Luvmypets Journal: A New Season

[luvmypets]

Given that these pigs are pretty rare in this country, why not sell some for breeding purposes? I ASSUME they would sell for reasonable money.

Or are you precluded from doing so by the person who sold them to you?

Oh we will trust me! I know that at least one piglet is going to the farm we bought the babies from and I know we want one for ourselves to eat. I also know that the restuarants will be wanting some meat as well. But once the two gilts are of breeding age we are going to have lots of pigs. I think the plan for now is to raise Priss's babies for meat, but it really depends on how many she has.

 

[Bruce]

Does that mean Priss isn't "breeding quality"?

 

[luvmypets]

Does that mean Priss isn't "breeding quality"?

No she is, however as this is her first litter we don't think she will be having many. At least not enough that we will benefit from selling some. Lol you were confusing me a bit

 

[Bruce]

And you are confusing me

I can see keeping them to breed so you have more to sell as breeders or meat later but didn't you say you were going to raise the litter to sell as meat? Just seems like a "rare breed" would be worth more sold as breeders than having been raised for meat. But then I've never raised animals for either purpose and maybe the restaurants pay big bucks for Mangalitsa meat.

 

[luvmypets]

Oh! I feel silly now, yes mangalitsa meat is big bucks! They are known as the kobe beef of pork.

 

[Bruce]

Yeah I just did a little looking around

I don't know if this is representative but:
Bacon: 2 lb 4 oz, $70 or nearly $2/oz or $31+/lb.
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/mangalista-bacon

12-16lb ham: $400 or minimum $25/lb
http://www.dartagnan.com/mangalica-ham/product/PDRSH010-1.html

Raise and sell those porkers!!!!!

I have to wonder if this is going to be another Emu or Alpaca pyramid "scheme" where people pay a stupid amount of money for breeding stock expecting to make a killing joining the "train". Good if you are early and get out before the crash. What is the current general price for a breeding animal?

And 50% fat?? What is the "live" to "butchered and packaged" ratio?

Looked some more, these seem a bit more reasonable (by comparison)
bacon - $16/lb - http://winfieldfarm.us/store/?page_id=35
They also have loin chops and ham for $15/lb

 

[Latestarter]

I don't think this is an emu or alpaca thing... pork has been around for centuries. Buying the piglets is expensive in and of itself. They also take longer to raise to butcher weight from my understanding (up to 15 months as opposed to ~6 for regular commercial pork). So really, the money making/profitability of the enterprise depends on how much time/effort/feed you want to invest...

This from 2010 - "In the New York area, a restaurant’s cost for a pound of boneless loin might be $3 for the cheapest industrial hybrids, $7 to $8 for Berkshire pigs, and $10 to $12 for Mangalitsa. Retail cost can be even higher." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/dining/29pigs.html

Prices went to $6 (whole hog) to $12/lb (specific cuts) on a web site I found from 2016:

"MANGALITSA PORK PRICING:
Whole Hog – $6.00 / lb (Average total hanging weight is 220 lbs.)
Half Hog – $6.50 / lb (Average total hanging weight is 110 lbs.)
Smoked Bacon – $12 / lb
Smoked Ham – $9 / lb (with or without bone)
Spare Ribs or Baby Back Ribs – $10 / lb
Pork Chops (bone in) – $12 / lb"
...etc. http://jacobsheritagefarm.com/mangalitsa-pork-pricing/

Then of course you also found the site below... If they want to take an even longer time frame and process/cure themselves, then we're talking some serious big bucks... how about a whole cured ham starting from ~$400?

"Spanish air-cured ham made with mangalica pork. Dry-cured in Spain for three years, it's a rare combination of perfect breeding and masterful preparation. Slice paper thin and enjoy." http://www.dartagnan.com/mangalica-...MIhKKA6af31wIVCo5pCh29GQrLEAQYAyABEgJ8qvD_BwE

 

[Bruce]

Emus and Alpacas have been around for centuries too, just not in the USA

I guess the starting point with these pigs is:
Do they cost significantly more than any "common" pig to buy as piglets? It doesn't take any more time for a Mangalitsa sow to "make" the babies so the "alpaca or emu" thing would be if they are charging a ton of money for the piglets because they are "rare". Of course they could be made "not rare" pretty easily if they were priced reasonably and lots of people decided to help rebuild the population. Eating them doesn't help that though

And pricing them high to keep them rare to ensure high prices for big profits doesn't help either.
Call me a skeptic but anyone who spent a lifetime raising money on Wall Street seems the sort to do just that.

 

[luvmypets]

No I totally get where you are coming from! The first batch of pigs we bought was WAY WAYYY overpriced, but the piglets we just got were far more reasonable compared to feeder pigs. I have also been noticing that more and more people are getting them and breeding. I have also been seeing the mangalitsas getting far more attention on the internet and social media.

 

[Bruce]

Good. Given how different they are meat wise to "regular" pigs it sure seems like getting them to be "common" would be a real positive. I could probably get DD2 to eat pork chops if they tasted more like beef than bland pork. DW will eat them only if they are smothered in sauerkraut.