How It Works
Click the button below to select the next available date that works for you. Reserve your pig with a $800 deposit paid through our online store. This non-refundable deposit goes toward the total cost of your purchase.
Once you've reserved your pig & paid your deposit, we'll send you a link to our online form to select the cuts you like, including smoked bacon. pork chops, ribs, sausage, etc. It's all delicious. Start clearing out that freezer!
After your pig is dropped off on your butcher date and when we receive your pig's actual weight, we'll calculate the balance due and bill your account, either through your card on file or your ESA balance. The butcher will call when your pork is ready for pickup, and you pay him the processing fees when you pick up your pork.
The Nitty Gritty of Buying Custom Pork
Since you are purchasing a specific animal, we charge based on the actual hanging weight of your pig. This price is $5.25/lb hanging. We expect hanging weights to be 250-325 lb. When you fill out your cutting instructions, you can request for us to lean heavier or lighter. The final animal purchase price will be around $1300-$1700.
To reserve your pig, you put down an $800 deposit. The balance on the animal will be due after the pigs are brought to processing and we receive the weights back and assign them to owners.
Processing Costs
We use Panola County Processing in Carthage, TX. You can customize your pork cutting according to your preferences. Please visit this page to view updated pricing. Prices are subject to change and are not controlled by SGR.
https://shadygroveranch.grazecart.com/current-processing-fees
Organic Sausage Seasoning
Since our butcher does not normally offer organic seasonings, we supply our own and can make them available to you. Each packet seasons 25 lb of sausage.
Important: Unless you elect to grind ham and/or shoulder, one pig will only yield 25 lb of sausage. If you want more sausage, you will need to grind some or all of the hams and shoulders. Current flavor selection includes:
Pork Sausage (general use, "Breakfast Sausage")Mild ItalianBratwurstAndouilleKielbasa
Typical Yields
The next big question is "what comes with my pig?" Here's a typical breakdown:
- Bacon - 20-25 lb
- Spare Ribs - 7 lb
- Tenderloin - 2 lb
- Bone-Pork Chops - 34 lb
- Bone-in Ham* - 50 lb
- Shoulder - 35 lb
- Sausage/Ground - 25-30 lb
- Soup Bones - 10-15 lb (or more if you debone other cuts)
- Fat - 15-30 lb
- Liver - 2-3 lb
We will walk you through the cutting process to make adjustments to this breakdown as desired. You should expect to take home around 180-250 lb of pork.
*ham may only be available seasonally (near spring and fall) due to minimum batch size requirements.
Freezer Space & Useful Life
How much freezer space do you need? We suggest planning 25-35 lb per cubic foot of freezer space. A whole pig will require between 6 and 10 cubic feet of freezer space.
Cost Spelled Out
Pork processing is a little complicated because there are so many options. Here's what you might expect to see cost-wise for a 250-lb hanging-weight porker:
- Smoking bacon: $60
- Smoked sausage (25 lb): $2.89/lb * 25 lb = $72.25
- Sausage seasoning (Andouille and Breakfast): $24
- Small pack charge on sausage: $0.25*25 lb = $6.25
- Kill fee: $70
- Cut & Wrap: $1.35*250 = $337.50
- Animal purchase: $5.25*250 = $1312.50
- Final total cost: $1882.50 for approx. 220 lb of meat = $8.55 per finished pound.
Bonus Ways to Save
Aim big.
The kill fee is a big chunk of processing cost but doesn't change with size, so the bigger the animal, the smaller those fees are per pound of meat.
Keep packages bigger.
If you don't mind 2 lb packs of ground & sausage, that will save you $0.25/lb upcharge. 1-lb packs are convenient, but if you normally use 2 lb of a given item within a week, it might be better to leave those at standard size instead of requesting single-pound packs.
Keep bones in cuts.
When you debone chops, ham, and roasts, there is residual meat on the bones that doesn't get used for anything. Plus the bones add flavor and nutrition in cooking!
Save bones and fat.
You're already paying for the full weight of the animal, and it only costs a little more to package the extras--might as well take them home and try using them! We love using home-rendered lard for cooking, roasting, basting, etc. It's very simple to render at home using our tutorial. We even make chocolate chip cookies with lard, and they are delicious! You can get into soap-making, homemade candles, and body butter. The possibilities are endless! With the bones, at the very least, they make great dog treats, but we love making homemade pork broth. It has TONS of gelatin and is mild in flavor.
Now that you're an expert on custom pork processing, are you ready to fill your freezer with delicious, pasture-raised Berkshire pork?
