Did We Make A Profit With Forest Pastured Pigs?

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

How do you keep track of animal costs? We need a better way for next season. Thanks for liking and subscribing!

[@HerEcolife]

I opened up a seperate bank account and credit card for farm expenses and keep all my receipts all divided by month of the year.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Quebec Homestead Smart! You don’t toss those receipts in a corner of the garage to count in spring, right?

[@HerEcolife]

@@TheMindfulHomestead hahaha sometimes one or two end up in the pick up glove box lol

[@rbtbeach]

I use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of all my costs. I keep my receipts in a single location until I get time to add them to my spreadsheet. I do try to do it on the day of purchase, but we all know things never always go as planned!

[@CC-dh7vi]

My uncle carries a notebook in his back pocket. He documents everything as soon as he pays for it, he writes down any important info that could help him make changes where theyre needed and data to help him understand how he could do better next season. At the back of the book he made a pocket for the receipts, when its full he unloads the receipts into a folder and adds his data entry to a spreadsheet. Its also a real time entry of everything specific to his animals so if anything happens or if he was ever questioned about any of his animals he can provide straight facts.

[@LewStewls]

Next round of hog raising, clip the corner off the feed bags, and keep them in a box. That way you can keep a tally and wont have bags taking up space.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Ohhhh. That’s smart!

[@UCUCUC27]

@@TheMindfulHomestead why not reuse the bags?

[@jbaker4900]

Or just take a picture with your phone. Date and time stamped.

[@stumpbumpers]

I agree with everyone else, what your family consumes is just as valuable as what you are selling to other families. If you saved $800 by not purchasing pork, then it’s a credit to your income.

[@edsmith4414]

AND you didn't pay tax on that "income" (because so far, knock on wood, they haven't figured out HOW to tax it)....which could easily add 25%. This is true for ANYTHING you do for yourself. Fix the dryer, save a $100 service call ? No...you saved a 100 + whatever your tax would have been on the gross to have a 100 left for the Maytag repairman !

[@PatrickMeadowsdude]

I've never seen your channel before and I really enjoyed this video. I appreciate it when people discuss real numbers. I'm buying a chunk of land and doing research on selling food from it and this video helps a lot. I like how you do it, not really trying to make a business, just offsetting the cost of raising the animals. Pretty much free pork :)

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

I’m glad you found us! I’m all about the real world. I’m not trying to spin this any way, just put it out there so folks have the info they need before they decide to dive into something like this. Let us know how it goes once you start working your land!

[@oldnorthstateoutdoors2002]

As a general rule if I can break even and my meat or eggs for free, I call that a win. I think you guys did well, especially for a first time trying it.

[@BigRedAcresOfMO]

This helps me so much with planning my first year on the homestead! Its really hard to estimate what something will cost you when you've never done it before so this video gives me some peace of mind! Thanks!

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Glad we could help!

[@twbishop]

@2:35 accountants use depreciation for capital investments. for example, the shed might last for 10 years, so you could depreciate/count the the total cost of the shed at 10%/year. and as others have said, the meat for your consumption has a value, even if not $4/pound.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

For permanent structures yes. Because we dismantle structures and rotate the pigs each year, our structures are not considered permanent and depreciation isn’t applicable.

[@mattya1227]

Great job on the video and raising the pigs. I like that you finished them on acorns and pumpkins, which are a natural de-wormer. A couple things I would like to comment on. First, you should include the pig you kept as "profit" as it would cost you to buy that meat that you are consuming. Second, unless I missed it, you did not factor your own labor into operating costs. Estimate how much time you spent each day on feeding, watering, tending fencing etc, and multiply by an hourly wage. Your time is worth money in opportunity cost. This total should be subtracted from your profit. Lastly there are a couple things I do to reduce operating costs that you might want to try. First it is super easy to slaughter, butcher and process a pig. Learn to do it yourself and you can process the hog you keep. I do my own and wouldn't have it any other way. Furthermore, if you do gain these skills you can slaughter/butcher/process all your pigs, then "gift" them to friends and family, and accept donations that on paper at least, are unrelated to your hog operation. This is 100% legal in NH and VT. Lastly, I like that you included forage and donated pumpkins to help reduce feed costs. These costs can be further reduced by planting forage crops and by inquiring on the availability of food scraps and dumpster refuse from local grocery stores and eateries. Again, 100% legal. Some folk raise their hogs entirely on older baked goods, expired dairy products, not rotten but not sellable produce, and industry by-products like cheese and soy trimmings, apple pomace from cider mills, spent brewer's grains, the list goes on. Some businesses will be open to filling a 5 gallon bucket with veg trimmings that you pickup and rotate through a couple times a week. Some will even like to mention that sort of thing on their menus or websites as part of their effort to upcycle and may want to buy some of the pork back from you. Your number one cost will always be feed. Why buy it when you can get it for free? The worst someone can say is no. Just some ideas. Good luck with the next lot!

[@davidparadis490]

Good points, I know someone getting free old produce from a major supermarket for his homestead

[@TheCompanion-gx5bz]

Great, very useful video. Thanks, Jack.

[@Afroyogacollective]

Great idea on offering to collect pumpkins and fallen apples! I am looking into buying my homestead in the next 18 months... Great idea for fall feeding before butchering.

[@jim9337]

That was encouraging. We are looking at raising pigs next spring.

[@clifflester2693]

These pigs are a lot cheaper than my ex-wife, and I bet they were a lot smarter and prettier.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

They loved giving smooches!

[@startingfromscratch9499]

that's funny I find her to be rather cheep. Still rather kiss a pig with lip stick, but atleast I didn't marry her

[@barrysoetoro3337]

"I told my boy about the birds and the bees and he told me about my wife and the butcher"

[@billingridgreen3749]

Great video, Last year we raised 2 IPPs. We sold 1 to a dear friend for our cost. Which came out to $2.08 per pound (hanging weight). We fermented our organic feed, which was a good way to stretch our feed dollar. Plus, all the sweet green grass. We also feed the all the free apples we could find. We were not out to make money on this venture, as we had many hours of entertainment raising them. This year we plan on raising 3 more. Wisconsin

[@ASimpleLifewithChrisTara]

Thanks for sharing your info...

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

You bet! If we can help others do it themselves, then our mission is accomplished!

[@13MoonsOverMayhem]

Wow, thats awesome! Great info here. I’m just getting our homestead started and have been considering whether I want to try pigs. This gives me a much better idea of return on investment. Thanks!

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

The initial start up costs can be involved, but most of it is stuff you’d need to buy anyway for other aspects of the homestead.

[@GrowingLittleCountryhomestead]

I horde feed bags. They make great roofing material for rustic builds. If you fold them neatly you can stuff almost 60 bags in to one. 👍

[@agostonbenedek1898]

Try buying (bulk) feed grains & ferment it prior to feeding with a range of mixed in chopped alpha alpha , fodder, and some limited calcium/ mineral supplements. More work but much cheaper than buying feed in bags. Acorns are the best if you have plenty. Also, for close friends and family, you should be processing your own hogs at home thus further reducing your costs Great video 👍👍👍

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

We’ve looked at bulk but the 2 hour trip each way to e nearest feed mill that sells bulk negates any savings. Folks pay their own butchering costs so that’s not an issue.

[@zoe9632]

I'm an Aussie & that's what I do for my chickens & ducks. Fermenting half the time & buying bulk with a few others. Oh & we have to travel 3 hrs each way but only do it every 4 months.

[@FarmishKindofLife]

So much information here. I love that you started saving the feed bags - that's the ONLY way we have been able to really keep track of our costs here. When you intend to write it down, you forget...or don't remember if that last tally mark was the bag you just opened or... ;) Good point about waiting to butcher later in the year, we like to have ours done by deer hunting (Nov.) but now I'm wondering if grabbing everyone's pumpkins (etc) and doing it a little later is a better idea. Great video!

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Farmish Kind of Life The timing worked well for us. We fed them free choice, and went through noticeably less feed than the “books” all say we should have. And Pumpkin Pigs taste great!

[@idkbruh7873]

would saving the receipts be a good way of keeping up with cost? you would have a time stamp and price for everything

[@OakKnobFarm]

I agree with leaving out the "infrastructure" in your operating costs. It needs to be calculated. And your annual profit tells you how long it takes to "pay back your investment". ROI....

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Yup. I know exactly how much I spent on them, and it wasn’t much, but much like the land it’s located on, it’s part of what’s needed to raise them, not what was involved in that batch.

[@zadokmotorfreight2423]

That was a great video, thanks!

[@LittleMountainLife]

Wow! What an informative video! Well done, Sir!!

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Little Mountain Life Thank you sir! Hope all is well!

[@africanhomestead]

Great video! I didn’t see you capture the butchering costs for the two pigs you sold (though, I think you did somewhere). Also, one big difference between a homestead and a farmstead (lifestyle vs. business) is that if a business, you would would need to pay yourself out of the gross profit (you’ve got value, brother), capture costs like mileage to buy feed, and amortize infrastructure costs like the pig pin and other durable goods that would need to be replaced after a few of years. I’m going to be doing forest/pasture pigs here in Liberia in the next year or two as part of our permaculture model farm and training center. Maybe I can show my students your video as an example of how to calculate costs. People not capturing all their costs is a big challenge here and leads to many failed ventures.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

The African Homestead The butchering fees were paid by share owners directly to the butcher.

[@africanhomestead]

The Mindful Homestead - OK, that makes sense! Thanks!

[@meatsteak6053]

I love this. I'm so glad you said you lost track of feed I've had that happen on meat birds. I just chalk it up to raising my own you can't put a price on it. Ide rather pay more for my own meat. But you are pretty profitable, imho I would shoot for butchering yourself. I know you like this way but it takes a big cost out of the loop. Especially since you're selling to friends etc. The down side is it Sooo much work lol. I need to my infrastructure in place I've been saying this for 4 years. That and goats we want to try. That's why I hate these videos they remind me I'm not working hard enough lol. But seriously awesome job!

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

We aren't at a place where we feel I could provide a quality cut job to our customers, and Dan (Butcher Pete) has made it his life to humanely harvest and provide a high end butcher that maximizes yield. The people who bought paid for their own butchering. That $4/lb didn't include processing, so really, we don't lose it there. It just came down to what it cost US to have ours butchered. I may try my hand at cutting our own next year, or possibly practice on a deer before I get too far down the wormhole with butchering pigs.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Also, goats are on the list. We need to pick one up this summer and try it to make sure we like the meat, but it would be great to run some pigs with the goats to clear understory.

[@gardendreameretc9534]

new subscriber here.. this is awesome.. i've been thinking about raising pigs since 2 years ago..

[@hendonfarm1015]

Enjoyed the video! Thanks

[@foster21]

Just came across video. I’m looking to try to start a homestead in downeast Maine area in next few years. I’ll subscribe. I imagine I’ll be able to learn a lot from someone in similar climate.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Good luck! Keep us posted on how it’s going and if you have any questions!

[@pondacres]

Yeh cool! We also did a couple pigs a few yrs ago, agh's. Finished them on acorns, and yeh that got them pretty delish!

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

I can imagine! How were your finished weights?

[@pondacres]

They're smallish lard pigs, I did them at around 120 lbs each, harvested something like half that in pork each. I could have got them bigger, but I didn't wanna winter them.

[@harvestvillage695]

Eating your own pig is a huge benefit. You can not eliminate or ignore the benefits of the pork you put in your freezer from your profit loss calculations.

[@cliffpalermo]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@randialtman8407]

I use them for wallpaper in the barn

[@drew2it733]

Thank you, buddy. I loved how you cut right to it. I'm starting to look at raw land to purchase and use forresting/pasture pigs to clear the land over the next two or three years and hopefully help pay the mortgage in the meantime. I don't know where to begin, I have never farmed. Do you have any resources you'd recommend?

[@timstewart8690]

Apart from family or friends, don't sell yourself short. A premium product should sell at a premium price. You could still undercut the competition, say 20%. Many would loss a limb to get hold of your pork!

[@PaulsWanderings]

I thought this was a recent video. I started to ask, "didn't you do this same thing last year?", then I looked at how old the comments were.

[@iwantosavemoney]

Not sure if you are looking into it yet buying food in bulk can get your food cost well where you are at it is hard to say but around here pig feed is a little over 200 a ton they make them feed buggies they are well worth the money if you’re in it for the long run.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

We’ve looked into it. The issue around here is that there is only one mill and they won’t even talk to you unless you are ordering 3 tons or more. So we’re stuck for now.

[@irenmolnar221]

Hey we feed our pigs with our homegrown crops and grass / We raise Mangalica pigs in Transylvania Mountains

[@edsmith4414]

You do have to factor in housing/fencing/etc. You also have to consider a labor cost for yourself.....it's not free pumpkins if you have to go out and get them. We raise 2 a year on pasture and feed, and I keep very good records. This year, my first pig weighed 430lbs slaughter weight (I only weigh them at that point, mostly out of curiosity). I'll kill the next one tomorrow morning...it will probably run a bit heavier, being a few weeks older now..but say the same. My piglet ($75 this year), and feed costs ran 82 cents/lb live weight....figure about 50% yield by the time you get to 2 hanging halves, and double that to 1.60/lb. We do our own slaughter/butchering. Some years back, we figured out you can't compete with commercial agriculture on price. Only way a small guy can make it is some kind of niche market where you get 4 times grocery store prices. Some folks seem to tap into a market like that, but it ain't easy. So we decided there are 3 REAL value of raising food for yourself. The quality of the food we eat at a price that is somewhat competitive with what we would have spent at the store, and raised in a much more humane and healthy environment. The next factor is by raising your own, you don't have to pay taxes on income needed to purchase food after tax. (plus sales tax on that after tax money in many situations) And that is true for ANYTHING you do for yourself....cut/burn firewood, sawmill your own lumber, repair you own appliances, etc......you have to factor in what you would have paid in tax to earn the money to have after tax leftovers to buy whatever. That can easily run 25% if you include SS tax along with income tax (federal....and State in many locations)(NH is like TN, we have no state income tax, but we do have a high sales tax....9 3/4%) The only thing we currently make any income from is eggs. Our flock runs 20-30 chickens, and egg sales (less feed/etc costs) mean our eggs are 'free' (not counting out labor). The FINAL factor is the education and experience you get raising your own, plus tooling up for it plus setting up the infrastructure. At some point down the road, that may well blow away the other two, as YOU will have some control on your food production, (among other things) unlike SO many that are 100% dependent on other people being able, and willing, to go to work to provide for them things that sustain life. THIS is a huge factor not often considered.

[@Lycan_24_7]

Excellent

[@franklloyd6769]

If you are buying in the bag you are paying 30% more than you should…it should be $100-125 per pig to finish. Acorns/ pasture is bonus

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

This I know. I work at a feed store.

[@Citytohomestead]

Hey I’m new to your channel and I love it! I am interested in getting pigs myself. 1. What season is best to get them? 2. How much land per pig do you need when raising in the forest?

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

We like getting them in the spring. As far as amount of land, we like an acre per 5 pigs, with a 2 rear rest between batches. So a season of pigs and the 2 years without.

[@jseeutube]

Is that a Tom Hanks voiceover ? 🤔

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Gordon Joseph Levitt. 😉

[@OakKnobFarm]

I love that you did this, and I'll do similar with my egg layers soon (chicken math)... but... why not keep receipts ? They're smaller :)

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Because I’d lose them. Haha.

[@OakKnobFarm]

@@TheMindfulHomestead hahaha! I run a small business so receipt storage is second nature now LOL

[@kevinbaker6168]

Doesn't your feed company/dealer give you a receipt or bill of sale when you get feed? My dealer always gives me a receipt, and if I make a cash purchase somewhere else for feed or supplys I tell them to give me a receipt, then I put them into an envelope before I enter them into my ledger or spreadsheet. Also, check in your state. If you buy parts or supplies that are ag related you don't pay sales tax on it.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

No sales tax on anything here in New Hampshire. And yea, they offer receipts… but I lose stuff and wash pants. 🤷‍♂️😂

[@tamararollins9474]

Thinking about raising a few pigs here in NW Washington State. How do you move the animals from the "pen" area to the forest pasture? And what would be the difference between keeping them in the pen all the time and letting the graze.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

We literally set the electric fence for the forest pasture up and then just pull off a panel of the pen. There are a few videos on the channel of our pigs fencing, but we’re actually going to have a new one out later this week.

[@SchnuckySchuster]

You did make a profit on the pig you ate. The profit you made is the money you have not spent on buying pork of the same high quality you produced.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Figurative profit is not literal profit though. That doesn’t go on my taxes, so it doesn’t technically count as “profit”.

[@HerEcolife]

Very well explained. Feed here is wayyyyy more expensive.... Butchers aren't alout to come slaughter on the spot either. We can't even slaughter it and bring it to the butcher. We have to bring them to a facility that it 1h30h awaw and then go get it when its done. So far I did, cows, and meat chichens. Meat chickens were the best bang for my buck. Never tried pigs on pasture before. Maybe when i'm a bit more set up. We processed our own goat last year but we are lacking skills to have descent cuts for sure lol

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Quebec Homestead We have exemptions for custom butchering here, meaning, if the pig is sold as a “share” and someone technically owns half before it’s butchered, it doesn’t have to be brought to a facility. That said, we have a great USDA butcher about 45 minutes away, so we could use them if we wanted to sell small packages.

[@CrookedWoodsFamilyOrchard]

Same for us in Arizona, our animals have to be brought in alive.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Same, unless we are selling in whole, half, or quarter shares.

[@danidsds]

I think the pig you butchered for yourself should be counted too. If you hadn't taken it, you might have had to buy one at a similar price. So, with that one, the profit would go above 1k, pretty damn good if I may say so myself

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

I go back and forth on this. Arguably we wouldn’t HAVE to buy a pig like what we raise. Grocery store pork would be cheaper. But I do see your pint.

[@jodivaniderstine9889]

How did you keep your pigs contained in their forest pasture? I live in a forest,my pigs’s shelter and pen are in a cleared area and fenced. I’d like to utilize a larger piece of my property for the pigs but fencing it …how? How long does it take for pigs to uproot stumps in a clear cut area of forest?

[@Mikkall]

Wow... are there no locally run feed stores up there?

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Mikkall There are and that’s who we buy through. Haven’t looked into buying in bulk though, yet.

[@JaysterJayster]

How much gas did you burn to and from the feed store

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Not much because it’s near our house and we pass it whenever we go pretty much anywhere. Now, we buy feed by the pallet and I only need to make 4-5 trips a year for feed. I do include the mileage and deduct it from taxes.

[@farnorthhomested844]

when you did your total cost, did you add the amount of meat you got from the 3rd pig you kept?

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

We did not, and the main reason for that was that from an accounting standpoint, that pig doesn’t count. It doesn’t factor into profitability of the operation as it isn’t liquid. Obviously if someone was to sell all their pork as shares, profitability would increase, but we were really interested in seeing if we could make a little bit of money on top of raising our own pork.

[@michellealmonte6595]

Hi there. I plan to rotate my four pigs through heavily wooded forest every week. With that in mind, how much feed would you supplement. Would you still go with the six lbs a day even though they’re clearing the woods too?

[@Mmmyess]

You absolutely should have included the value of the large male pig, as that is money you didn't have to spend to feed your family.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

There’s value, but you can’t put factor non-monetary profit into a bottom line. It’s intrinsic value, not financial value.

[@thomasreto2997]

Very nice! Thanks for the info. Wife and I will do this. Great ideas for getting extra feed. We are learn all we can..looked at Joel Salatin, Sheraton park farms, red tool house,...I was asking myself...do you guys ferment the dryed grains? Are they whole seeds that actually sprout and may improve forest/pasture areas. Thank you for your tips with the timing on the trees dropping nuts..🥜🌈😃🤙

[@robertarnold4411]

Did your two extra pigs sell live? (I only caught that you added in butchering cost on your own pig)

[@xyooj96]

thanks for sharing. do you use electric fence to keep them within an area?

[@jb8020]

I’m single with a full-time job. Can I raise pigs?

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

I don’t see why not!

[@OakKnobFarm]

You aren't giving value to the meat you eat. Your profit is higher, IMO. Maybe take a grocery store "good quality pork" price average, and value your own food at that. So maybe the meat you keep is worth $3.00? $3.50?

[@shemmac4700]

Hi, just wondering about when you say people bought ’half a pig’ was it butchered into pieces or literally still half a pig?

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

They own half of a pig while it is alive and then they get the meat of that half after processing.

[@shemmac4700]

@@TheMindfulHomestead ok thanks.

[@chrisbennett8538]

Kool

[@dsmvr4]

"Antibiotics free" refers to antibiotics added to the feed source because the livestock live in squalor. It does not refer to a veterinarian dose of antibiotics.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Actually, to have meat labeled “no antibiotics” the USDA requires that the animals were not given any antibiotics in their feed, water, or by injection. The USDA doesn’t permit poultry or meat to be labeled “antibiotic free”.

[@dsmvr4]

@@TheMindfulHomestead sort of... there's more to to story. A grey area exists. My family raises hogs. Non-organic, feed lot pork.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

@@dsmvr4 No, there isn’t a gray area. If you’re injecting antibiotics and claiming “antibiotic free” then you’re breaking the law. I’m not being obtuse, but it’s what I sell my pork against all day long. “Raised Without Antibiotics - Livestock/Red Meat and Poultry: To use this claim, source animals cannot have been given antibiotics in their feed, water or by injections. This includes ionophores which are recognized as antibiotics by FSIS.” - USDA www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media_file/2021-09/Animal-Raising-Claims-labeling-and-Non-GMO-slides-2021-09-01.pdf

[@SeanCorriveau]

Was just the 239 lbs pig $360 to butcher? Or all 3 was $360? Or did you add butchering price into the $4/lbs? Im in the next town over and just starting my homestead stuff. Would love to meet and see your setups and get ideas, once this whole quarantine is over

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Our pig, the 239 pounder, was $360 to butcher. The other pigs didn’t have the butchering price included, but those costs were paid by the shareholders directly to the butcher, so we didn’t have to add or subtract those out.

[@SeanCorriveau]

@@TheMindfulHomestead oh ok. Makes sense.

[@clifflester2693]

it's called fixed costs and variable costs and depreciating the fixed cost. Simple accounting.

[@Nightowl5454]

It would've been a whole lot easier if you just simply kept all the receipts for your purchases. You could very easily add up how much you you spent far faster than saving a pile of feed bags and trying to remember how much you paid for the various feed bags. You need to be careful with being consistent with your pigs, because people will be expecting for next year's pigs to be like what you sold them the previous year.

[@SuperReznative]

people expecting the same price every year are delusional and have no clue what it take for farmers to put the food in their plate. No farm commodity remains the same price from year to year .Commodities, change daily , weekly monthly, as does fuel costs. These type of people shop at big box stores or get their food from factory raised poor quality, ,or slave labour conditions.

[@Nightowl5454]

@SuperReznative when I said people expecting for next year's pigs to be the same as last year I meant about the quality. If you had quality pigs last year and this year you went with poor quality junk to feed them then obviously its going to effect the quality of the meat and going to anger your customers for giving them an inferior product for the same price as previous year. When someone buys something they expect consistency for a product.

[@jlhaslip]

You need to add the value of the pig you kept for yourself to your profitability. The money you saved is money in the bank for your pig operation. 🐖

[@lesterhersh7184]

But the pig you had cut up for you you need to add that because you did not have to go out and buy any pork

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Except for a P&L that’s not how it works. If you own a store and take a bottle of shampoo to use for yourself, you don’t add in the cost of the bottle of shampoo to the bottom line because you didn’t have to buy shampoo. The money spent by the business on creating or supplying a product is still an expenditure, and unless the product is sold for profit, it’s either a loss or it has no value.

[@celsopdacunha000]

Since you didn't add the pig you kept for eating into the profit, then you can't count the cost to raise it and to butch it.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Celso Cunha We counted it since it was money that came out of our pocket. From an accounting standpoint, you can’t write your pig off, and the cost is still there.

[@celsopdacunha000]

@@TheMindfulHomestead- And about the money you are going to save for not spending in pork meat? Are you going to write it down in the next sheet? Mixing business money with personal expenses can cause some problems to know well the real profit. Anyway, good luck with your farm. When I lived in USA many years ago, in Boston, sometimes I drove to NH in the weekends to see the beauty around there, visiting the covered bridges, visiting a small museum from a painter, who I can't remember the name now and other places. It was so refreshing for my soul doing those trips.

[@The1stDukeDroklar]

Wait, you should count the value of the pig you kept for yourself. The only thing different with that pig is that you were the customer and you benefitted financially from all that meat.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

You can’t count that as “profit” because no money came in on them. In actuality, they would technically be a loss from an accounting standpoint, since they were product that was never sold.

[@The1stDukeDroklar]

@@TheMindfulHomestead From an IRS pov, the value of the pig would be considered income. It is basically bartering rather than getting the cash for the pig. You're still getting the value of the meat as a return on your investment. The pig was not swallowed by a black hole 🤣 That's how I look at things like this.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

@@The1stDukeDroklar That’s not how an accountant looks at it though when you’re a business. 🤷‍♂️ You don’t pay taxes on sales that don’t exist.

[@The1stDukeDroklar]

@@TheMindfulHomestead So how are you accounting for the value of the meat you no longer have to buy? That seems like saying the value of all produce I farm has no value if I only grow for personal use and that the expenses involved in growing it is pure loss.

[@TheSodomundGommorah]

It's even better to plant your own crops for pig food. Non GMO and stuff.

[@davidparadis490]

No worries with coyotes?

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Nope. Have ‘yotes on camera less than 50 feet from the paddock. No issues to speak of.

[@UCUCUC27]

your gonna lose money buying those tiny bags u need to get those huge in bulk bags als of you are in the usa consider having a milking cow to feed the pigs milk

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

No place nearby that sells feed in bulk, and the cost incurred to drive 2 hours to pick it up a few times a season would negate the savings for us..

[@marlan5470]

​@@TheMindfulHomestead Order online and have it delivered.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

@@marlan5470 Shipping and freight costs make it not worth it. There are no mills nearby that will deliver without tacking on hundreds in delivery fees.

[@marlan5470]

@@TheMindfulHomestead Sorry to hear that. Then you're better off with the small bags.

[@waytoomuchtimeonmyhands]

I wouldn't subtract the pig you kept from the profit. You got the meat, which has value. If you had to purchase that meat it would have cost you cash. Saving cash is often better than making cash because you don't pay tax on money you save. From an accounting perspective, you mixed your personal ledgers with your business ledgers. Don't treat meat you keep like meat you throw away.

[@orionespy]

A simple Google spreadsheet would save space literally...

[@brianbutler501]

Math nerd here…if you can’t count the profit, you can’t count the cost. You also produced almost $1000 of meat you didn’t have to buy. It is erroneous to calculate your costs like that

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Your math is right but you’re reading the problem wrong. Profit is a measure of money that comes in from a venture. You can’t count something as “profit” if it isn’t there. So yes, we didn’t have to buy meat, but we didn’t make any “profit”from the pork we kept. We have an accounting firm that does our taxes, and this is how it’s handled on our P&L for the farm each year. 🤷‍♂️

[@brianbutler501]

@@TheMindfulHomestead “profit” is a measure of what is gained after accounting for expenditures. I’m not going to argue this with you, because I do it for a living. The key to calculating profit is understanding the nature of expenses. Some expenses are specific like the amount of fees required to raise this specific batch of pigs…versus general. You can’t charge a $50,000 tractor you bought for the farm to a particular batch of pigs just because the first thing you did with it was use it to lift the pigs to butcher them. You have to scale your expenses across all expected income resulting from those expenditures.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

@@brianbutler501 But I can write it off if it’s the subject of a video. I appreciate your concern, but our accountant has a firm grasp on what we do and how we manage the bookkeeping end of it. There’s been no issues there and our P&L does not include the pigs we keep for ourselves. (Full disclosure, the LLC we operate under is for this YT channel, and was formed as an internet publishing company, not a farm. We file no schedule F.)

[@brianbutler501]

@@TheMindfulHomestead Full disclosure if your don’t understand business math as it applies to a small business and the significance of concepts such as fungibility and depreciation, perhaps you should be doing something with your LLC other than making miseducation videos. You had some good stuff in here. Too bad you can’t take advice on how to make it better.

[@themiracle9032]

That is not how you calculate profit. The third pig you didn't sell was also your profit. So you made over $1300 from 3 pigs!

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Except I’m not taxed on it so it isn’t actually profit. It’s a tangible benefit, but doesn’t contribute to the bottom line, so it can’t be called “profit”.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

It would be like a woodworker counting sawdust as profit, since technically it has value if turned into MDF or fire starters.

[@themiracle9032]

You need to either exclude the third pig from all expenses, and also from the revenue/profit, or you include it in both. Otherwise, your finance won't be accurate. Just trying to help.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

@@themiracle9032 The thing is you’re thinking about this from either a purely business or purely homestead point, when it’s both. This isn’t meant to calculate traditional p&l. It’s meant to show what can be done, regardless of the label you put on it. I’ve taken plenty of business courses and dealt with plenty of P&L’s in my career as a salesman. I know what you are saying, and I hear you, but it simply doesn’t apply in this instance.

[@stevenlycans6571]

Capx is a cost.

[@lesbetts5694]

100$ i hope you cost went down i can get them for 25$ ..... im also surrounded by pig farms so that might make a difference :)

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Nope. Still paying $125 per feeder pig, which is about the going rate in New England.

[@Skashoon]

And now you have to spend another $300 for new feeder pigs.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

I wish! $1125 for 9 feeders this year!

[@Skashoon]

@@TheMindfulHomestead : Ouch!

[@kurtkohl151]

Purchasing 101... Buy in bulk for the best price.. Feeding pigs by the bag can't are as expensive as it can get.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Problem is the nearest mill that will sell bulk is over 2 hours away. 150 miles of hauling a 2000lb tote of grain is more money in gas than price difference in hauling a pallet of bagged feed 15 miles from the local feed store.

[@kurtkohl151]

@@TheMindfulHomestead oh..I guess two hours for feed was a bit much.. good job on the pumpkins.. maybe you and a couple other homesteaders or a farm near you can pool together on a bulk delivery. Sounds like more pigs are on the way. Scaling up a tad will put a bit more profit in the deal. $3.99 next year:-)

[@ricardogallegos5231]

Should of breed off some piglets than you actually make some money. I got chickens rn but looking to scale up to other animals

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

You don’t make much. Takes a lot of feed to keep breeding stock alive during a New England winter.

[@cliffmanz]

You didn’t pay yourself a salary for raising and caring for these pigs. If you add that in along with land cost (over head) you are at a deficit. So infact you did lose money raising these three pigs.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

No we didn’t. Because I’d be raising pigs for myself regardless. No additional work is required to raise 10 pigs vs 2.

[@chrisbennett8538]

I think I'd skip my own meat sell all the meat for profit.

[@TheMindfulHomestead]

Yea but who wants to eat grocery store pork?

[@medienmitmarius278]

Yeah ...so you have the best Quality meat but you wanna sell IT and buy the Bs From the Supermarket?

[@sweatt4237]

Now do Biden prices.