In 2025 our price for HALF hog shares is $6.95 per pound of hanging weight. Also, because we will have some of our pigs run through the USDA process and others WDA, we will no longer be covering the butcher fee, you will pay them directly.
I want to make a note here on the half pig concept. We used to sell smaller portions (¼ or even smaller) but no longer are doing that. If you do not have room in your freezer or that is simply too much, you might be interested in our Clover Club. The reason we sell a minimum of ½ pork share is quite simple actually and it is in the genes of the pig. You see, although pigs walk on four legs, those front legs and rear legs are quite a bit different. Different muscles for different reasons and the cuts of pork you are familiar with, like pulled pork for example, comes from the front leg, whereas that prosciutto or picnic ham you like? The rear leg. There are many more examples, but we want to make sure that you get the full porcine experience and get the cuts you really want and recognize.
Pigs are some of the most intensively-confined meat animals in the U.S., more so than beef or chicken. Some pig farmers cut costs by giving their pigs a lot of food waste like bread and donuts past the sell-by date and full of refined flours and chemicals. We actually worked with our preferred butcher recently to look “inside” a pork share from another farmer who raised their pork with glean from area bakeries. The meat was flabby, not firm, and VERY unappealing. Don’t get me wrong, the pigs will eat it, and yes they will get fat, but we look for a firm, bright red pork chop and good inter-muscular development, while keeping that deep white fat as well. Our pigs are fed non-GMO feed that is free of corn and soy, as well as natural (organic) food scraps like extra pumpkins or potatoes, extra eggs, whey and skim from farm cheese and butter making (partnered with a local dairy), and anything they forage in the woods or pasture.
We raise Gloucestershire Old Spots because quite simply, we love the breed.
How it Works
We target 100 pound “halves” (by hanging weight, from a state-inspected scale at the processor) which yields around 60+ pounds of meat (but that depends on how you ask the butcher to cut it.) However, hanging weights may be larger or smaller. We raise the pig from weaning age (approximately 8 weeks old after they are weaned from their mother) until they are approximately 8 months old. We work with our preferred butcher on a specified date and after the heavy lifting is done, we will be left with two, half shares of cleaned and skinned pork. To give you some perspective, in 2024 we averaged 99.25 pounds per half. Some were bigger and some were smaller but that was the average. This is then weighed and is called the “hanging weight.” “Hanging weight” is the weight of edible pork carcass as it hangs from a state or USDA-inspected butcher scale. Included in hanging weight is fat, bones, and offal (organs), and sometimes the skin, depending on whether you scald the pig or skin it, all of which are edible. Excluded are things like the brain, blood, stomach, and intestines, all of which are technically edible but which most processors aren’t able to save due to state and federal regulations. We use this hanging weight to determine the final balance, less your deposit, that is owed to us the farmers.
Once the animal in its new condition is weighed, you will then be put in contact with the butcher to select your preferred cuts. For a sample cut sheet, read here. You’ll pick up your pork from that local butcher and you pay the butcher to custom cut to your specifications.
There can be some confusion on the difference between live weight, hanging weight and freezer weight so we did a deeper write up on it here.
How much meat is in half a pig?
After cutting the half to your specifications, a 100 pound half will yield approximately 60 pounds of standard cuts of pork, about enough to fill 3 or 4 grocery bags. Remember that most of the difference between “hanging weight” and standard cuts of meat is also edible. You can keep the trimmed fat (to make lard), bones (to make stock), organ meats (delicious and nutritious), and other edible parts which are not standard cuts but are used in many recipes. If you do want the head, tail, heart, or liver, let us know when you order as there is only one of each per pig and we’ll try to make sure you get it.
THE TYPICAL CUTS
- Pork Roasts – great for slow roasted pork, rolled in herbs and served as a Sunday dinner.
- Shoulder Butt – sometimes called Boston Butt (named after the “butt containers” that pork was shipped in). These can typically be made into steaks, country-style spareribs or roasts. Country-style steaks and roasts are excellent for pulled pork. Country-style steaks are where tasso ham of Cajun fame comes from.
- Pork Chops – come from the loin of the hog and can be selected as bone in or boneless.
- Pork Ribs – spareribs are a part of every order. If you do not want them, they will be rendered into grind. If you choose boneless chops, you will get baby back ribs as well.
- Ham – average ham is 10-16 lbs. Serve it brined and smoked and have lunch meat for days or roast it for Easter and Christmas.
- Bacon – Bacon comes from the belly of the pig. Average bacon is 4-8 lbs. Bellies can be cured and then smoked and cut on demand for virtually any meal. The Italian-style bacon is called pancetta and although takes a few more steps, is an uber rich way to use bacon for your pastas and salumi boards.
- Bones – for broth (although not as common as chicken or beef stock, pork bones are used in many Asian-style broths like Ramen and Pho)
- Back Fat – Back fat can be cured and made into lardo or can be rendered, along with leaf lard to fill up several containers of lard for various cooking purposes.
- Other – this includes jowls (for guanciale), hocks, half head.
- The Grind – all of the trim and any other cuts you designate to be made into sausage becomes the Grind. You can take all or part of the trim and turn into ground pork. Form there turn into mild, medium or spicy breakfast sausage and/or sweet or hot Italian-style sausage.
Deposits and Prepayment
We ask for a larger up-front deposit for the pig shares. This is because if you cancel for any reason (such as moving out of the area for a new job), Federal law and the shortage of independent processing make it almost impossible for us to resell your custom share. This also helps us get enough feed, with the highest quality, and a better cost by buying it in bulk, in advance. The deposit is $200 per half. If you want a full pig share, it is then $400.
To reserve a share or to get more information, we invite you to fill out the form at the bottom of this page, or send us an email.