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OH NO!! Don't take the bacon away!

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  • OH NO!! Don't take the bacon away!

    Just read this.....

    Bacon prices have soared by more than 10 percent due to a new virus which has claimed the lives of a million baby pigs in under a year.

    Scientists believe that the virus, which they know little about as it only hit U.S. shores recently, originated in China and is known as “porcine epidemic diarrhea.” The virus doesn’t affect other animals or humans, but is certainly deadly for pigs.

    The current crisis is costing the pork industry millions as prices rise and production declined by seven percent, the biggest drop in over 30 years. In February, a pound of bacon cost around $5.46 which is 13 percent more than a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Farmer Craig Rowles did all he could to prevent the PED virus from spreading through his pig farm in Iowa. He trained his workers to spot symptoms, and how to change their clothing and limit contact between different areas of the farm.

    Nevertheless, back in November 2013, the PED hit Rowles’ farm, and within just a few weeks he lost 13,000 animals, most of them under two weeks old.

    Rowles spoke about the situation affecting bacon prices: “It’s very difficult for the people who are working the barns at that point. No one wants to go to work today and think about making the decision of baby pigs that need to be humanely euthanized because they can’t get up anymore. Those are very hard days.”
    I'm a ding bat & AA groupie

  • #2
    Remember me mentioning it in my thread about the beef for sale? They are wrong though, as it can affect calves and kill them too if they get it. This disease is bad and will cause pork prices to continue to rise so that folks will look at bacon as a luxury rather than a necessicity.


    Tex
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    If we cannot define a simple word like greatness, how can we ever hope to use it as a measuring stick to know when we have risen beyond average?

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    • #3
      Get more Yoder's canned bacon before the guv't buys it all up.
      quam minimum credula postero

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      • #4
        I like the Hormel Black Label bacon and try to pick it up a half dozen packs at a time when it is on sale. Today it wasn't on sale. $8.00/pack! I came home with Kroger brand instead.

        I don't care what anyone says...I know I can raise some feeder pigs cheaper than I can buy bacon. I go through a LOT of bacon.

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        • #5
          The trouble is, people don't realize how many pigs it takes to get the amount of bacon needed. Bacon is not like sauage where is can be got from any part of the pig. Bacon comes from a certain part of the pig, like t bones do on a cow.



          Tex
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          If we cannot define a simple word like greatness, how can we ever hope to use it as a measuring stick to know when we have risen beyond average?

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          • #6
            Well, yes, but I should get about 40 lbs. or so from a nice sized pig...right? If I raise two, that's 80 lbs. of bacon. If I eat it judicially, I might be able to make it last a whole year. Plus, I would get pork loin, pork chops, sausage, etc.

            Let's see...if bacon is $8/lb., times 80 lbs....that's $640!

            I can get feeder pigs for about $50/ea. and supplement their feed from my garden.

            Don't discourage me, Tex. I'm dead set on doing this just as soon as I get set up properly. In fact, I'm so dead set on it I don't care if I lose money! (Okay, I do care, but I want to do this anyway.)

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            • #7
              I rented a farm house once on a small hog farm about 300 head. They used to throw the runts out over the fence to die on the big litters where there wasn't enough outlets to go around. I would gather these up and raise them (on their feed) They knew it and didn't care. I would bottle feed them on 1 bag of bag of milk replacer then have them eating slurry or slop by the second bag then to regular chop. It was fun and I would sale them as feeders and keep one for the freezer. But I will say this living on a farm with 300 pigs is a smelly affair. One thing to remember lots of clean water is as important as feed with hogs.Good luck E.

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              • #8
                My dad said to make sure they were down wind. My neighbors are going to love me.

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                • #9
                  I think the sale of 1 will more than pay for the feed for both. But, I don't think you will get 40 lbs of bacon from each pig. (not sure by any means, but I don't think it's anywhere close to that)

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                  • #10
                    You could be right, Betty. I don't have personal experience and I was too young to remember (or care about) any details from my papa raising them. I was just going by the things I've read and indicators were that for a 350 lb. hog (hanging weight) a person should get between 40 and 50 lbs. of bacon. Those numbers could be way off base.

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                    • #11
                      El, I wonder if some folks (who might not know better) include the salt pork & jowls in their estimates of bacon amounts?
                      quam minimum credula postero

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                      • #12
                        That could be, Lynn. What I really need to do is chat up some old timers around here about this stuff. Frankly, I just haven't had the time. I cannot believe how busy spring time is on an up and coming homestead. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to raise here. I have the chickens, the new orchard, the garden and when I look at it all, it feels like progress. Then I think about all there still is to do. I was really counting on raising a couple of pigs, but other than the bacon and sausage, I'm not a huge fan of pork.

                        I guess I can always change my mind all the way up until I have the pigs.

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                        • #13
                          El, feeding a hog past 250 pounds is throwing money away. You get more fat than you do usable meat. We raise hogs every year and I go by what our processor recommends on this. I once took my 250 weight hogs to him at the same time some other folks were delivering five hogs to him. It literally took two pickup to haul these five dead hogs. There were two in one truck and three in the other truck and believe me when I say there wasn't room for another damn thing. The butcher told me he got just as much meat from our 250 weight hogs as he did from those big 400 pounders.

                          Talk to some of the local guys around you, but if you have any questions, let me know.

                          I am not trying to discourage you at all, but I want to make sure you have realistic expectations.


                          Tex
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                          If we cannot define a simple word like greatness, how can we ever hope to use it as a measuring stick to know when we have risen beyond average?

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                          • #14
                            I'm willing to include salt pork and jowl to stretch out the bacon supply. Diced, a little flavors up a lot of stuff just fine (greens, beans, potatoes, even cornbread if you don't have cracklings or enough bacon.)

                            I've even done salt pork the way it's described in the popular Little House books - it's not bacon, but parboiling and pouring off much of the salt makes it less overpowering. Follow by dredging in flour and frying, set it aside while you make eggs, or biscuits. It's decent to go with a breakfast. I usually find jowl meatier, but it's tender.

                            The jowl is also a nice add to put some fat in your New Mexico green chili, should your smoked pork be too lean.

                            Guess I need to learn to make my own salt pork and smoked or salted jowl.
                            Last edited by W.Lynn; 05-22-2014, 08:04 AM.
                            quam minimum credula postero

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                            • #15
                              Tex, your comments and other posts throughout this forum and the other have helped me in figuring this whole thing out more than you will ever know. (I'm not quite there yet, but your advice is helping a lot!) I appreciate it more than you could know, so if I haven't thanked you lately...thanks so much for all you do!

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