The Whole Hog (Bulk Pork)

Thank you for your interest in our pasture-raised pigs.  Our pigs come to us after weaning, and live the rest of their lives on pasture, regularly rotated to fresh grass while also being fed grain that is primarily sourced from Wisconsin farms.  In the fall they are taken to the Rice Lake Butcher shop.  Some are available to purchase by the half or whole, which is the least expensive way to buy meat from Spring Hill.

When you buy a half or whole pig, you are buying the live animal.  Included in the cost is transportation to the butcher.  The butcher then processes the meat according to your preferences, and you pick up the meat from the butcher.  Separate payments are made to the farmer and to the butcher.  We have worked with the Rice Lake Butcher Shop for several years now and are so happy with them.  They share our value of careful, low-stress animal handling.

A price of a whole pig is $600 with a $300 deposit to reserve. A half pig is $300 with a $150 deposit to reserve.

The cost of processing varies widely because it depends on what you want done.  For example, it costs less to get large cuts of meat like shoulder and ribs, whereas smoked meat such as bacon and ham will add to the cost, as will having the meat turned into brats and sausage.  To give an idea, last year we had a pig processed with bacon, one ham, and quite a bit of breakfast sausage and the cost was just under $200.  Inflation is hitting everything though, so this year it could certainly be higher.

As a general rule, a 250 lb pig will give you 140 lbs of “take home” meat.  If you calculate the price based on $200 in processing, it comes out to roughly $5.70 per lb.  This includes shoulder, ribs, pork chops, bacon, ham, and sausage.  Please note that this is based on a 250 lb pig and we try to get them closer to 300 lbs.  We guarantee that your pig will be at least 250 lbs and if it is not, we will make up the difference by giving you pork that we have processed for selling by the package. There is no extra fee to us for a bigger pig, but it does cost a bit more for processing. 

The butcher will work with you on how exactly you want your meat processed, but I will share some of the things we do: We have pork chops cut ¾ thick.  We have the hocks smoked and use them for baked beans and for bean soup.  We save the fat and render it into lard.  Pasture raised pigs are outside and exposed to sun, so they store Vitamin D in their fat.  Lard has a significant amount of monounsaturated fat, and of course it’s delicious.  If you make hashbrowns and eggs using lard instead of vegetable oil, you will never go back.