Private selling or 4-h auction

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angus kid

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Aug 23, 2011
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I posted in the swine chat but i figured i would see if i could get some input here also. I am looking to get pigs to raise money to buy a heifer. I was wondering if private selling to buyers is better or worse then selling them at a 4-h auction. Also i was wondering if i should get one pig or 2 and if anyone as a preference on breeds. All help is greatly appreciated.
 

vc

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First of all what are the prices like at the 4H auction? If they are high for some and low for others? Will you have buyers at the auction?
Our average at the county fair bounces from 2- 2.5 per pound on the hogs, some kids who have buyers will get 5-6 others are lucky to get a bid.
Auction or direct you will need to market yourself, line up buyers, provide a product they want, and manage your cost.

The kids at our fair can only run 1 animal in the sale, so they line up barn buyers as we call them for the one that does not go through the sale.

Buy smart, keep your cost down while producing a good product and market it well and you should be able to make money either way.

2 or more hogs seem to grow better than one by itself.
 

twistedhshowstock

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I would definately sell in the 4-H Auction...even at 2-2.5 a pound that is still more than twice market value for a finished hog.  Remember that at the 4-H Auctions the buyers are very rarely ever there to buy an animal, they are thereto support the kids and the work they have put in. 
If you are trying to buy a heifer, have you contacted your local Farm Bureau and farm lending agencies? A lot of them have programs set up for loans to help kids get started showing.  I remember one program when I was growing up, I never used it but had friends that did.  The way it was set up was it gave them the loan up to a certain amount depending on what type of animal they were buying.  They had to pay the loan back upon completion of the project.  So for instance, if you bought a heifer you could either sell her or a calf and pay it back, of if it was a market project you could use the money from the sale to pay the loan back.  The good thing was they would then renew the loan to allow you to purchase a new project.  I know several kids who started pretty good cattle herds using those programs.
Just wondering because even at the 4-H Auction prices it will take you a couple years with hogs to be able to get the money to buy a heifer.
 

vc

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Twisted, we had a bank in town here in the 80's that did that, I think it was 2 or 3 percent had to be paid back at the first of August. Our fair took awhile to get the checks out. I used the program for 3 years (back then it took about 1000 dollars to do a steer project) By the time I was 18, I had excellent credit, bought my first truck at 18 without a cosigner. Learned to use a check book, keep it balanced, and discipline when it came to money. I really wish they would do that again, now days there are a few companies that will do it, it helps the kids but it does not help you develop any kind of credit.
 

Gargan

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all of the above is good advice. Right now our county extension offices are willing to give people under 18 up to a $5k loan at 0.9% interest (due in full after 5 yrs) for breedig stock animals. So, check around and see if u can find anything like this going on, and ur pig project could help pay ur interest till u start getting your calf crop. this is just an idea for ya to chew on. GL
 

kfacres

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I will warn you-

I took out a $5000 young farmer loan through the USDA's program, either 5 or 7 years ago- I forget.  It was 2005, now that I re-think about it, because it was the year that I didn't have any ewe lambs born.  Anyways, I wanted to show that summer, and invested in a show string (5) I think, and my first beef heifer- Shorthorn. 

Anyways, after 3 years of purchasing this group- I didn't have any decendants of the sheep, nor did I have my original cow.  THe only animal that I did have, was a daughter of that cow= only thing to show for my money invested...

Looking back, yes I got some short term profit from the show string, but in the long run-- I'll have a small cow family to show for it.  To this day, I question why I invested and decided to take this loan out-- as I've spent the last 7 years paying off animals that had either died, or been shipped many years ago. 

Sure, you'll say that I invested maybe too much back then on them-- but it was 'quality' that I was after- as you can tell by my spending 5000 on a heifer and 5 lambs.  I guess that's a speculation I was willing to take- and at the same time, it's turned me away from ever buying livestock on borrowed money again.  I have not had a very enjoyable experience with my young farmer loan---- and yet I work for the USDA... <party>
 

angus kid

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Aug 23, 2011
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Thanks for all the great advice! Does anyone know of any good hog breeders in northern Illinois?
 

Mill Iron A

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as far as breed what are you looking for?  I recommend a blue butt just because they seem to bring some shape from the hamps but some of the soundness from the yorks as well.  Pure hamps are cool but rarely sound.  If you just want something to purely make money Durocs grow very well... in fact their breed motto is we grow on you.  Anyway, food for thought.
 

Kuhnfarms

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Genoa, Il
If your close to rockford there is stohlquist for crossbreds and denny jeffers and charlesworth
if you are looking for purebreds and if they dont have anything they can point you in the right
direction to find something.
 

angus kid

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Thanks for all the input it is very appreciated! What type of supplies do i need to show a hog?
 

angus kid

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Aug 23, 2011
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When the pig is at the fair how much should it be fed since it will be primarily fed from a self feeder?
 

twistedhshowstock

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Self feeders are ok up to about 100 lbs or so in my opinion, after that, the pig needs to be hand fed in my opinion.  Just like with cattle, if feed is left in front of them all the time they dont eat as much.  With any animal the ideal situation is to evaluate the animal and try to decided what weight they are going to be ideal at, and then try and feed them in order to have them at that weight for the fair. 
For pigs, I would say the average gain for most pigs to have them proper for the fair is going to be about 2lbs a day, but remember I said that is average.  For most feeds with pigs you get about a 2:1 gain ratio, so for every 2 lbs they eat they will gain about a lb.  The program I have had the best luck on is leaving them on a self feeder until about 100 lbs, then I feed about 6 lbs a day until they are about 175, then I start to weigh them once a week, decide what they rate of gain is on the feed, decide what I want them to weigh at the fair, then I adjust my feeding to try to end up at that weight at the fair.
Remember with pigs you have to work them.  They need to be excersised daily.  If you dont practice driving them at home, you will never get them drove in the show ring.  Once the pig is settled into your pens after a few weeks dont be afraid to let them out of the pen to drive them and excercise them, a pig will almost always come back to the feed trough.
As far as what outspoken said earlier warning about the loans, I dont know the situation that caused him to not have the animals he purchased after 5 yrs.  But I do know that I and most other breeders, if we spend $5,000 on breeding stock, then we expect that animal to still be around and producing in 5 yrs.  Now there are always freak accidents and unexpected circumstances, but generally if you are dilligent in your shopping and make sure you buy good animals, then one heifer will generally more than pay back the loan like that it took to buy her.  And another thing he eluded to in that  post, and Jody this isnt an attack just trying to educate the youngsters here.  But dont think that just because it cost a lot it is qualty, in that post he said something about it was obvious he got quality stock because he spent $5k, but let me tell you, I have seen a lot of $5k and $10k animals out there that were complete junk, and I can show you plenty of $1500 animals that were a lot higher quality than them, dont let the fact that they are priced higher let you believe that they are higher quality.
 
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