We have basically two types of hogs on our farm. They are all large, relatively, I guess cause that’s what we found would sell.
Our registered purebreds mostly go to folks who don’t live around here. We heavily market on the Internet to get our message out. Those customers want breeding pairs to start or enhance their own breeding herds. The purebred piglets sell for $450 and up.
Our local friends and a few from far away buy our crosses. They are mostly interested in pork and buy the crosses as feeders or breeders for their pork herds. Word gets around and we put ads in local Craigslist areas. Our cross piglets sell for $100 although that may have to increase if the price of corn keeps going up.
The effort and cost of maintaining our breeding herds is about the same regardless of the breed. This means that each type has to pay for itself. We sell many more crosses than purebreds and the volume of each type is balanced to the market. We have had other breeds that were not in demand so we had to stop breeding them.
What all this means is, I guess, you have to provide what people want and it has to pay for itself. You also have to adjust your marketing to find the people who want your product. This is basic business management. You can research before you develop a product or you can develop a product and then try to find the market for it. But when things don’t work out you have to be able to change your product. Don’t become discouraged; become flexible. There is a lot of intrinsic value in having pigs around; without moving too far away from this objective post…having pigs helps make my life whole. So, as consumer needs change, I’ll keep working on having pigs that will pay for themselves regardless of the breeds I choose.
…although I will always have some GOS even if they are nothing but pets. They are just too darn cute…
Now, if you have a breed that you really want to raise but there is just no market for it you have to create that market. You have to tell people why it is such a great breed. Be honest, don’t try to sell a lemon by calling it lemonade; don’t make a pig seem like a unicorn; always remember that you have to make your customers successful, you are directly responsible for their success. But if the breed has a truly valuable quality, such as the ease of managing small hogs, you have to explain why that matters. If you are right then you will be successful. If you aren’t successful then perhaps you weren’t right…
There was a myth for awhile that a certain breed of hog did not root. It had some magical quality that made it unlike every other breed. Lots of people bought these pigs from the woman that made that claim only to later learn that their magical hogs rooted the heck out of their pens. Lots of people were disappointed and this damaged the breed’s reputation.
The problem was that the person making the claim failed to provide the “ifs”. This breed generally will root less than other breeds “if” certain conditions were met. If it was kept on pasture instead of in a pen, if the pasture had adequate desirable ground cover, if the pasture was rocky or dry or hard enough to discourage the hog from rooting, if it wasn’t saturated from a recent rain…
It would have been much better if the seller had been honest and explained the “ifs”. But, IMO, the seller was more interested in selling hogs than being honest about them. Less tendency to root is a desirable trait but the seller caused more harm than good by over selling the breed and not being responsible for his customer’s success.
Don’t be her. Be the seller your customer wants you to be. Be honest, helpful, and directly responsible for making your customers very happy with your hogs. Then after a bit the market will find you.
Develop your message and the people who agree will buy your hogs. If you’ve done it right they will come back for more.
As for me, I like big, playful, docile hogs. But I also own chihuahuas…
