Calculate pig batch revenue, production cost, margin, and profit per head or weight unit, or reverse-solve the sale price needed for a target profit.

Batch planning estimate. Match sale weight and price to the same live, carcass or packaged basis. Costs apply per pig started; expected marketed pigs may be fractional.

Include purchase, labor, health, processing and other costs in your accounting scope.

Currency labels only; changing currency does not convert amounts.

Mortality and fixed cost

Blank means zero. Must be below100%; this is an expected batch allowance.

Blank means zero. Include fixed costs once, avoiding per-pig duplication.

Pig Profit Formula

This is a simplified batch budget. S is pigs started, m is the nonmarketed percentage, M is expected marketed pigs and w is average sale weight per marketed pig. Expected M may be fractional. Feed and other variable costs are average incurred costs per pig started, including loss-related spending; changing mortality does not automatically reduce these entered costs. Use operation-specific costs as in Iowa State Extension enterprise budgets.

M = S × (1 − m / 100); W = M × w; TC = S × (F + V) + B; TR = W × p; P = TR − TC; Target p = (TC + Target Profit) / W
  • P is estimated batch profit in the selected currency, after only the costs entered. F and V are feed and other variable costs per pig started; B is fixed batch cost.
  • TR is revenue from expected marketed weight W at sale price p. The calculator converts kg/lb units before multiplying; live, hanging and packaged weights are different selling bases and are not automatically converted.
  • TC includes the entered batch costs. Include acquisition, feed, health, labor, facilities, financing, hauling and processing where applicable, without double counting. Currency selection changes labels, not exchange rates.

Revenue by Selling Channel

Use a quoted price on the same selling-weight basis as the entered weight. The table below contains hypothetical arithmetic illustrations, not current market prices or expected yields. A US cwt is 100 lb, so divide a per-cwt price by 100 before entering a per-lb price. Processing and handling charges belong in the cost budget where applicable.

ChannelIllustrative PriceSale-Weight BasisIllustrative Revenue
Illustration A: live sale$63-$69/cwt280 lb live$176-$193
Illustration B: live sale$0.90-$1.50/lb280 lb live$252-$420
Illustration C: hanging sale$3.50-$5.50/lb202 lb assumed$707-$1,111
Illustration D: packaged sale$6-$12/lb152 lb assumed$912-$1,824

Typical Cost Breakdown Per Pig

The following cost categories organize hypothetical budgets per pig started. Both amount columns are illustrations, not typical small-farm or commercial prices. Enter your own incurred costs, including acquisition where applicable. Processing is excluded from the displayed totals. Mortality timing can affect actual feed and other spending; this calculator leaves those adjustments in your entered costs rather than predicting them (Iowa State Extension mortality-budget explanation).

Cost ItemIllustration AIllustration B
Feeder acquisition$75-$200$45-$80
Feed$150-$350$110-$200
Veterinary and medications$50-$100$15-$40
Bedding$30-$80$10-$25
Processing (direct sale only)$200-$450Not included
Other (hauling, labor, overhead)$50-$150$20-$50
Total (excl. processing)$355-$880$200-$395

How to Calculate Pig Profit

Hypothetical example: one pig is started and sold, with 0% nonmarketed allowance and only the listed costs included. A 280 lb market hog at $0.90/lb live generates $252 in revenue. With total raising costs of $210 (feeder pig $80, feed $95, vet and bedding $35), net profit is $42, a 16.7% margin, with a breakeven of $0.75/lb. At $1.20/lb the same cost structure yields $336 revenue and $126 profit (37.5% margin). These are arithmetic illustrations, not current quotes or a complete farm budget.

Key Performance Benchmarks

Use operation-specific records rather than universal breed, price-premium or production benchmarks. The checks below clarify this budget model; they do not supply commercial performance targets. Profit margin is undefined at zero revenue, return on cost is undefined at zero cost, and a changed mortality assumption does not model the timing of death loss or its cost savings.

MetricDefinition / InputBudget Check
Feed cost per pig startedTotal incurred feed cost / pigs startedInclude loss-related feed spending
Other variable cost per pig startedOther incurred batch costs / pigs startedInclude each cost once
Expected marketed pigsStarted pigs × (1 − nonmarketed % / 100)A planning expectation may be fractional
Feed share of total costTotal feed cost / total cost × 100Undefined when total cost is zero
Net profit marginBatch profit / revenue × 100Undefined when revenue is zero
Selling-weight basisEntered live, hanging or packaged weightPrice must use the same basis