Pigs, are they worth it?

Bryan83
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Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by Bryan83 »

I've got a couple farms going now and I'm starting to branch out into livestock. Now the first thing I notice about pigs is that they require a lot of feed of varying types. So if my main focus is still arable, are pigs more of an investment in time and money than I really want to take on? Are they very profitable, or just so-so? How long does it take to turn a profit on them, speaking in terms of seasons years? Playing 9 day, if that makes a difference in the calculus.
Last edited by Bryan83 on Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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DEERE317
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by DEERE317 »

Bryan83 wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 5:35 am Ive6got a couple farms going now and I'm starting to branch out into livestock. Now the first thing I notice about pigs is that they require a lot of feed of varying types. So if my main focus is still arable, are pigs more of an investment in time and money than I really want to take on? Are they very profitable, or just so-so? How long does it take to turn a profit on them, speaking in terms of seasons years? Playing 9 day, if that makes a difference in the calculus.
Not sure on time frame, but Berkshires pay for their feed and then some, just make sure to do your own haulage as $400 per pig over its life eats through almost all of the profit.
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Mwal
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by Mwal »

I’m about to buy some we can find out together if ya want, haha. Dunno what you’re going for in initial investment but beef cattle have always been good to me, I believe roughly make a quarter to half of initial investment in profit after its all said and done but I would have to figure it out again, it’s been a while since I originally kept track to make sure.
Adamvet
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by Adamvet »

Not really worth to keep pigs in my opinion. But how I kept them. I bought ready pig food and gave them. The pigs grow much faster. I don't know how many pigs do you have or are u going to have but if you will have much better way is split pigs for difrent group. Otherwise you will lost control which pigs give you profits and which is not worth to have.
Are you paying with seasons?
Illinois Farmer
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by Illinois Farmer »

I think they are a good invest. You can get at least 2 turns in compared to 1 beef cattle turn. Once you grow the crops needed, you would just have buy the pigs and make the money when you sell. I just buy to finish them out.
1300 acre farm, finish out just about 10,000 hogs a year, 200 cattle, and xbox one and pc user.
Adamvet
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by Adamvet »

In my opinion better is to keep cows. I had 624 cows and they gave nearly 100 000 l milk daily.
juf.de
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by juf.de »

cows and pigs are worth it, especially if you sell the liquid manure in the BGA and use the manure in greenhouses.
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Bryan83
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by Bryan83 »

It seems I'm running into a real life problem with this question, ask 3 farmers the same question and get 4 different answers. :lol: On one hand, the reply from Deere317 makes it seem like the margin is pretty low, at least that's what I gathered by a transport fee being able to nearly wipe your profits, then I have Illinoisfarmer, and if I'm reading his reply correctly, pigs are double the profits of cows.

So let me set the scene, my main activity is arable, and the animals are going to be something of a hobby pursuit,and used as time filler in the winter. I was going to keep my stocks to around 100 animals per type for cows and, if I decide to do it, pigs. Not doing horses (tried it this past winter and not really my thing) and chickens, well I don't care how many of those I get as they're easy to care for and don't require a lot of attention.

So if I'm not going to have more than 100 pigs, does that change anyone's answer?
Oh, and as asked above, yes I'm using seasons.
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Illinois Farmer
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by Illinois Farmer »

I didn't say double the money, just more turns than cattle. As long as your making money, isn't that worth it? To me, they are definitely worth it and cheaper to get going than cattle are. I get about 500 pigs a turn, going to be changing to 1500 pigs a turn soon.
1300 acre farm, finish out just about 10,000 hogs a year, 200 cattle, and xbox one and pc user.
juf.de
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by juf.de »

Buy Yorkshire and pig food, feed them and sell them after 1 year, you have a profit of around 250-400 per pig after the first year, less if you keep them longer, always sell the male and keep some female until you reach a size that matches your playstyle.
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DEERE317
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by DEERE317 »

Bryan83 wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:16 pm It seems I'm running into a real life problem with this question, ask 3 farmers the same question and get 4 different answers. :lol: On one hand, the reply from Deere317 makes it seem like the margin is pretty low, at least that's what I gathered by a transport fee being able to nearly wipe your profits, then I have Illinoisfarmer, and if I'm reading his reply correctly, pigs are double the profits of cows.

So let me set the scene, my main activity is arable, and the animals are going to be something of a hobby pursuit,and used as time filler in the winter. I was going to keep my stocks to around 100 animals per type for cows and, if I decide to do it, pigs. Not doing horses (tried it this past winter and not really my thing) and chickens, well I don't care how many of those I get as they're easy to care for and don't require a lot of attention.

So if I'm not going to have more than 100 pigs, does that change anyone's answer?
Oh, and as asked above, yes I'm using seasons.
:lol:
The per pig profit is low, but you get 100 of them and that $400 is $40,000.
And thats after buying in food, and replacement animals.
So a few batches pays for the trailer, and the facilities most likely.
And the turn around time is faster meaning it’s easier to get out of them for a while and then get back in, and get multiple batches growing concurrently and you start to see it.
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Bryan83
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by Bryan83 »

Illinois Farmer wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:43 pm I didn't say double the money, just more turns than cattle. As long as your making money, isn't that worth it? To me, they are definitely worth it and cheaper to get going than cattle are. I get about 500 pigs a turn, going to be changing to 1500 pigs a turn soon.
So I guess I'm not exactly clear about what you men by "turns." Is that a breeding cycle, from born to sold? Or what does that mean?

Sorry for the basic question, as I've said before, trucker by day, virtual farmer and sales rep by nights and weekends.
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DEERE317
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by DEERE317 »

Bryan83 wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:08 pm
Illinois Farmer wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:43 pm I didn't say double the money, just more turns than cattle. As long as your making money, isn't that worth it? To me, they are definitely worth it and cheaper to get going than cattle are. I get about 500 pigs a turn, going to be changing to 1500 pigs a turn soon.
So I guess I'm not exactly clear about what you men by "turns." Is that a breeding cycle, from born to sold? Or what does that mean?

Sorry for the basic question, as I've said before, trucker by day, virtual farmer and sales rep by nights and weekends.
Depends on management style.
Farrow operation: essentially just being born and sold as small pigs.
Finishing: Buy small pigs and take to 280lbs
Farrow to finish: Birth to 280lbs.
FS15 & FS19 Platinum Edition PC (and War Thunder, Gaijin is way worse than GIANTS ever has been accused of being)
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Adamvet
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by Adamvet »

With 40k profit yearly you will stack in the same point of the game. Come on, this not what we looking for.
In my opinion if you have around 600 milking cows you will do very good business. Just think what give you more benefits 40k profits yearly or 100k daily?
The answer is very simple.
Mwal
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Re: Pigs, are they worth it?

Post by Mwal »

Bryan83 wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:08 pm
So I guess I'm not exactly clear about what you men by "turns." Is that a breeding cycle, from born to sold? Or what does that mean?

Sorry for the basic question, as I've said before, trucker by day, virtual farmer and sales rep by nights and weekends.
Kinda depends on what your looking to do, I would suggest pigs simply because if your doing arable you already have what you need. If you take me vs Illinois Farmer he’s raising 500 pigs at a time and I’m raising 500 beef cattle. My 500 beef cattle take 3 seasons to raise (I time the market and buy low and sell high). His pigs take say a season and a half. So in the time I feed out my 500 he’s fed out 1000 (two groups of 500. That’s called a feeder operation, you buy young steers or pigs and feed them out to slaughter size. So even though I’m getting 1000 a head profit and he’s getting (400? Dunno I’m just starting with pigs) in the same time frame we’re pretty close. The only thing is farm sim doesn’t take into account what you feed very much. I can bale hay from the ditch and wrap it and fatten my cattle the same as with corn silage or grain (pc option). So if you have a bunch of waste grass cattle can be overly profitable in my opinion. It kinda depends on how busy you want to be with it. If you breed pigs and feed them out you’re going to be really busy and to do it correctly it’s going to cost more than a feeder operation because you should probably have multiple barns to separate them from what you are breeding and feeing for selling. Breeding piglets is easier but I would say that’s the most busy work because you will constantly be separating and selling. It really breaks down to what you want out of it. Also cattle only are feeders in the beef breeds you can feed out your Holstein steers while you have a dairy also.
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