To register or not to register

I've been using the forums for a few months as a source of information, but just joined in order to get some advice on my new pig herd.

We have decided to keep a boar and sows to breed piglets for our own use and to sell. We are looking to purchace herefords from a localish farm and the price of the piglets jumps $90 for thier papers. When selling piglets will we benefit from the registration? One outlet for extra piglets is the local livestcock auction, and I've noticed they don't tell you much (anything) about the animals. I would also and I'm not concerned with biulding/refining the breed, just having decent piglets for our situation.

I understand this can very from region to region, but I'm curious about your experiances with the price of registered/non papered piglets and market hogs.

Thanks!
Anissa

A Zufall wrote:We have decided to keep a boar and sows to breed piglets for our own use and to sell. We are looking to purchace herefords from a localish farm and the price of the piglets jumps $90 for thier papers. When selling piglets will we benefit from the registration?

If you are raising pigs to sell as feeder pigs then no, registration is not worth it - just a waste of money.

If you are raising pigs to sell as breeders then it might be worth it but might not depending on who's buying.

We have about 400 pigs on pasture with about 50 sows.

We primarily raise them for selling to our retail accounts (stores and restaurants) whom we deliver to weekly and to individuals looking to put a pig of pork in the freezer as well as some roasters. For this market registration is not worth it at all. Registering would just increase your cost per pig.

We also sell some feeder weaner pigs to people wanting to raise their own, mostly in the spring. For this market registration is not worth it at all. We get $150 to $200 for boar piglets depending on the season and $250 for gilt piglets. Breeder quality select piglets are $50 more. Demand is high because we have superior genetics.

We also sell some breeder piglets, breeder boars and guaranteed bred gilts. We don't register these because we are the source of genetics for over a decade and our pigs are a cross that we have been developing ourselves - in other words, we would be the registry association. I do track all of the lineages but there is nowhere else but me to register. That saves on the registration cost.

See:

http://SugarMtnFarm.com/products/piglets/
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/products/breeders/

A Zufall wrote:One outlet for extra piglets is the local livestcock auction

Livestock auctions are the best way for a seller to get the lowest possible price. Instead focus on producing a quality product and market it well. As the years pass people will come to know you for your quality and you will be able to get a premium price. Grow slowly and surely.

I strongly recommend NOT buying at livestock auctions because so little is known about the animals, auctions are where the junk gets dumped and they're a great source of disease.