The price is a deposit for a half or whole share of one of our pigs. The final price of our of pigs is $3.30 per pound of live weight. So if we deliver a 250 pound pig to the butcher, our fee is $825 = 250 * $3.30.
There is an additional cost to process the pork, based on your custom butcher cuts and choice, which will be fulfilled by a local butcher, Arapahoe Meat Company in Lafayette, CO.
Here are the steps in more detail:
You purchase a deposit on a pig, reserving a half or a whole hog.
Within 1-2 weeks of the processing date, we will let know of the upcoming big day. We will send you an invoice, via Stripe, for the remaining balance of the pig on the day of processing. On that day the processor will tell us the final live weights. You will be able to make an online payment via credit card or bank draft.
After we receive prompt (ie, within 24 hours) payment for the pig, we will send you the tag number for the pig, which you will need in order to complete the "Hog Cutting Instructions" where you describe how you want your bacon, ham, and other choices for cuts, size, curing, and sausage, etc. You will submit the "Hog Cutting Instructions" to the processor. You can preview the sheets for either a whole hog or half hog. At this point you become a customer of the processor.
After about a week, the processor, will contact you informing you that the order is complete and ready. You will pay Arapahoe Meat Company directly for the order and pickup your wrapped and packaged grass-fed, soy-free, corn-free, non-gmo pork. A half share yields about 60-75 lbs of packaged pork, requiring approximately 3 cubic feet of freezer space.
But what if I want a whole hog? Perfect! Select the whole button on the purchase page. A whole pig or a full share of our grass-fed, soy-free, corn-free, non-gmo, pork yields about 120-150 lbs of packaged pork, requiring approximately 7 cubic feet of freezer space.
What are the estimated processing costs? Processors will charge processing per pound based on the hanging weight charge based on hanging weight. And there is generally a "harvest" charge as well. The stages are live--> hanging --> wrapped. So now let's do some math to figure out processing costs based on Arapaho Meats Company's meat processing price page.
Here's an example of a processed half hog using their pricing guide. Harvest Fee = $42.50 ($85 divided by 2, since we're calculating for half a pig) Whole pig live weight = 220 pounds (ours are 220 - 270 pounds) Whole pig hanging weight = 179 pounds (Live weight x 72%) Half pig hanging weight = 90 pounds (Whole pig hanging weight / 2 ) Half Pig processing excluding grind, curing, or sausage = $90 (Half pig hanging weight x $1/lb) Cured Bacon = $10 (10 pounds x $1/lb curing or smoking fee) Italian Links or Bratwurst Links = $45 (10 pounds x $4.50 per pound)
Total = $187.50 (42.5 + 90 + 10 + 45) This is an example and estimate for educational purposes. This example excludes tax, cured ham, and additional sausage or ground meat.