Grow-Finish Pig Feed Budgeting and Cost Control

By Dr. Zubair Khalid, DVM, MS, PhD · 2026-08-14

Key Takeaways

Feed constitutes the largest operational expense in grow-finish swine production, typically ranging from 60% to 70% of total costs, making meticulous feed budgeting and cost control paramount for profitability.
A typical grow-finish pig consumes 600-700 pounds of feed from weaning to market, with a target feed conversion ratio (FCR) of 2.6-2.9 lbs feed/lb gain, or better (2.4) for high-health herds, directly impacting margin.
Accurate feed budgeting necessitates using farm-specific data for starting/ending weights, total gain, and historical FCR, then breaking down total feed needs into phase-specific diets with associated costs, accounting for 3-8% feed waste.
Weekly tracking of feed usage and pig performance against budget targets is critical; a 5% weighing error can eliminate profit margins, and deviations in feed intake (>10% for >2 days) or FCR (>0.3) warrant immediate investigation.
Ingredient price fluctuations, particularly for corn and soybean meal, necessitate budget reviews when prices move >10% from the planning price, with strategies like forward contracting 60-70% of needs and consulting nutritionists for ration adjustments.
Intervention thresholds, such as a >10% drop in feed intake for >2 days or a >0.3 worsening in FCR, signal potential health or management issues requiring veterinary or extension agent consultation.

Feed represents the largest single cost in any swine operation, often consuming 60 to 70 percent of total production expenses. For growers and finishers, the margin between what you pay for feed and what you receive for market weight determines profitability more than any other factor you control. This guide walks through practical feed budgeting for grow-finish pigs, covering how to calculate feed costs per pig, build a realistic budget, track performance against targets, and make adjustments when prices shift or pig performance falls short. The information here is for independent producers, contract growers, farm managers, and anyone who makes daily decisions about what pigs eat and how much those rations cost.

At a Glance

Feed is 60 to 70 percent of total grow-finish production cost, making it the primary profit lever you control.
A typical grow-finish pig eats 600 to 700 pounds of feed from weaning to market, depending on genetics, health, and market weight.
Feed conversion ratio (FCR) of 2.6 to 2.9 pounds of feed per pound of gain is a reasonable target for most operations, with 2.4 or better for high-health herds.
Daily feed cost per pig ranges from $0.60 to $1.20 depending on ration phase, ingredient prices, and pig weight.
Track feed usage weekly, not monthly. Monthly tracking hides problems for too long.
Weigh feed accurately. A 5 percent weighing error can erase your entire profit margin.
Lock in ingredient prices when basis and futures markets offer favorable margins, but never forward contract more than 60 to 70 percent of expected needs.
Review feed budgets whenever corn or soybean meal prices move more than 10 percent from your planning price.
Call your veterinarian or extension agent if feed intake drops more than 10 percent for more than two days or if feed conversion worsens by more than 0.3 without explanation.

Why Feed Budgeting Matters More Than Any Other Management Task

Grow-finish pigs convert feed into body weight, and that conversion is the engine of your entire operation. Unlike breeding stock or nursery pigs, grow-finish animals exist to add weight efficiently. Every pound of gain requires a predictable amount of feed, and every pound of feed has a price. The gap between those two numbers is your profit.

Feed budgeting is not just a bookkeeping exercise. It is a management system that forces you to know your costs, track your inputs, and measure your pigs against a standard. Without a budget, you are guessing. Guessing leads to overfeeding expensive rations, underfeeding when prices spike, or discovering too late that a feed mill error or a health problem has destroyed your conversion ratio.

Consider what happens when feed conversion drifts from 2.8 to 3.2 on a 200-pound gain. That extra 0.4 pounds of feed per pound of gain means 80 extra pounds of feed per pig. At $200 per ton, that is $8 per pig in lost margin. On a 1,000-head barn, that is $8,000. Feed budgeting catches these problems early, while you still have time to correct them.

Understanding the Grow-Finish Phase and Its Feed Demands

The grow-finish phase typically covers pigs from about 50 pounds to market weight, which ranges from 270 to 300 pounds or more depending on your packer and market. This phase lasts roughly 100 to 120 days. During this period, a pig will eat about 600 to 700 pounds of feed total. The daily intake starts around 3 to 4 pounds per day in the early grower phase and climbs to 7 to 8 pounds per day in late finishing.

Feed requirements are not linear. Young pigs need higher nutrient density per pound of feed because they are growing muscle and bone rapidly. As pigs approach market weight, a larger share of gain is fat, which requires more energy but less protein. This is why commercial operations feed a series of phase diets, typically four to six rations from weaning to market. Each phase adjusts energy, amino acids, and phosphorus to match the pig's changing needs. Feeding a single ration across the entire grow-finish period wastes money, either by overfeeding protein to heavy pigs or underfeeding energy to light pigs.

Your feed budget must account for these phase changes. A budget built on a single average feed price will be inaccurate because phase diets differ in cost. Grower diets with higher soybean meal inclusion typically cost more per ton than finisher diets with more corn. The difference can be $20 to $40 per ton between phases.

Building a Feed Budget from Your Barn Numbers

Start your feed budget with your own barn records, not with industry averages. Every operation has its own baseline for feed conversion, daily gain, mortality, and culling rates. Your budget should reflect your pigs, your facilities, your feed mill, and your management. Industry averages are useful benchmarks, but they are not your operation.

Step 1: Determine Your Starting and Ending Weights

Your budget begins with the weight range you are feeding. Most grow-finish budgets start at 50 pounds and end at market weight, which you should take from your packer contract or your recent sale weights. If you are weaning into a grow-finish barn, your starting weight is the average weaning weight, typically 12 to 15 pounds. Be honest about your actual starting and ending weights. If your market hogs have been averaging 285 pounds, budget for 285, not 270.

Step 2: Calculate Total Gain per Pig

Total gain is simply ending weight minus starting weight. A pig that enters at 50 pounds and leaves at 285 pounds has gained 235 pounds. This number drives everything else in your budget. Record it clearly and use it consistently in all calculations.

Step 3: Set a Target Feed Conversion Ratio

Your feed conversion ratio is the pounds of feed required to produce one pound of gain. Start with your historical average from the last three to six groups. If you have no reliable records, use 2.8 as a starting point for a typical grow-finish group. Adjust upward by 0.2 to 0.3 if your barn has a history of health challenges, if you are feeding to heavy weights above 290 pounds, or if your facilities are older with poor ventilation. Adjust downward by 0.2 if you have excellent health, modern facilities, and feed intake records that show consistent performance.

Step 4: Calculate Total Feed Needed per Pig

Multiply total gain per pig by your target feed conversion ratio. Using the example above, 235 pounds of gain times a 2.8 feed conversion equals 658 pounds of feed per pig. This is your total feed requirement for the grow-finish period.

Step 5: Break the Ration into Phases

Divide your total feed into the phases your nutritionist recommends. A common four-phase program for grow-finish pigs looks like this:

Phase 1 (50 to 80 pounds): 80 to 100 pounds of feed per pig
Phase 2 (80 to 130 pounds): 130 to 150 pounds of feed per pig
Phase 3 (130 to 200 pounds): 180 to 200 pounds of feed per pig
Phase 4 (200 to market): 220 to 250 pounds of feed per pig

These ranges vary with genetics, diet formulation, and market weight. Your nutritionist can give you phase-specific numbers for your operation. The key is to assign a cost per ton to each phase based on current ingredient prices and your feed mill's pricing.

Step 6: Calculate Feed Cost per Phase and per Pig

For each phase, multiply the pounds of feed per pig by the cost per ton, then divide by 2,000 to get the cost per pound. Add the phase costs together to get total feed cost per pig.

Here is a simplified example. Assume a 50 to 285 pound pig gaining 235 pounds with a 2.8 feed conversion, needing 658 pounds of feed total:

Phase 1: 90 pounds at $260 per ton equals $11.70
Phase 2: 140 pounds at $240 per ton equals $16.80
Phase 3: 190 pounds at $220 per ton equals $20.90
Phase 4: 238 pounds at $210 per ton equals $24.99
Total feed cost per pig: $74.39

This gives you a clear per-pig feed cost that you can multiply by the number of pigs you are placing. If you are placing 1,000 pigs, your projected feed cost is $74,390 for that group.

Step 7: Add Feed Waste and Shrink

No feed budget is complete without accounting for waste. Feed wasted at the feeder, lost to spillage, or lost to fines and dust can add 3 to 8 percent to your actual feed usage. Add 5 percent to your total feed per pig as a waste allowance. In the example above, 658 pounds becomes 691 pounds. This adjustment is critical because feed wasted never shows up in pig gain, but it shows up in your feed bill.

Step 8: Calculate Daily Feed Cost per Pig

Divide your total feed cost per pig by the expected days on feed. If your pig needs 658 pounds of feed and eats an average of 6 pounds per day, the grow-finish period lasts about 110 days. At $74.39 total feed cost, that is about $0.68 per pig per day. This daily number is useful for tracking your budget against actual spending as the group progresses.

Pricing Feed Ingredients and Rations

Your feed budget is only as accurate as your ingredient prices. Corn and soybean meal are the two main ingredients in most grow-finish rations, and their prices swing with markets, weather, and global demand. You need a reliable way to price these ingredients for your budget.

Corn Pricing

Use your local elevator's cash price for corn as your baseline. If you grow your own corn, use the opportunity cost, which is what you could receive by selling the corn rather than feeding it. This is a real cost even though no cash changes hands. Add drying, storage, and handling costs if you are feeding from your own bins. Your feed mill may also charge a markup on corn, so check your mill's basis and service fees.

Soybean Meal Pricing

Soybean meal is typically priced per ton at your local feed mill or elevator. Prices vary with protein content, with 48 percent protein soybean meal being the standard for swine diets. Check your mill's current quote and use that in your budget. If you use alternative protein sources like distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) or synthetic amino acids, price those according to your mill's current quotes.

Other Ingredients

Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and feed additives make up a small percentage of the ration by weight but can account for 10 to 15 percent of the cost per ton. Get a complete price from your feed mill for each phase diet, not just the corn and soybean meal prices. Many mills provide a complete ration price that includes all ingredients, manufacturing, and delivery. This is the number you should use in your budget.

Building Your Own Rations

If you grind and mix on farm, you have more control over ingredient costs but also more responsibility for accuracy. You need current prices for every ingredient, plus an accounting of your electricity, labor, and equipment costs. On-farm mixing can save $10 to $30 per ton compared to complete feeds, but only if you are buying ingredients at competitive prices and mixing accurately. Weigh every ingredient. A mixer that is off by 5 percent on soybean meal can cost you thousands of dollars in a single group.

Tracking Actual Feed Usage Against Your Budget

A feed budget is a plan, not a report. The real value comes from comparing your actual feed usage to your budget weekly and making adjustments when the numbers drift. This requires a simple but consistent recordkeeping system.

Weigh Feed Accurately

The most common mistake in feed tracking is estimating feed usage instead of weighing it. If you use a feed mill, the delivery tickets give you exact weights. Record every delivery with the date, the phase diet, and the tonnage. If you grind on farm, weigh every batch and record the pounds of finished feed. Install a scale on your mixer or use a hopper scale so you know exactly what goes into the bin.

Track Pig Numbers and Weights

You cannot calculate feed conversion without knowing how many pigs are in the barn and what they weigh. Record pig numbers at placement and update the count whenever you remove pigs for sale, death loss, or culling. Weigh a sample of pigs every two to four weeks to track average daily gain. Weigh at least 20 to 30 pigs per barn, and use the same scale and weighing procedure each time for consistency.

Calculate Feed Conversion Weekly

Each week, calculate your cumulative feed conversion by dividing total feed used by total gain. Total gain is the average pig weight minus placement weight, multiplied by the current pig count. Compare this to your budgeted feed conversion. If you are running more than 0.1 above budget, investigate the cause. If you are running below budget, you may be able to reduce feed costs or push for heavier market weights.

Track Feed Cost per Pig

Divide your total feed cost to date by the number of pigs currently in the barn. Compare this to your budgeted feed cost per pig at this stage of the group. If you are over budget, determine whether the cause is higher feed prices, worse feed conversion, or both. Each cause requires a different response.

Adjusting the Budget When Ingredient Prices Change

Feed prices move constantly. A budget built in January may be obsolete by March if corn prices jump 15 percent. You need a system for updating your budget as prices change.

Set a Review Trigger

Review your feed budget whenever corn or soybean meal prices move more than 10 percent from your planning price. This trigger keeps you responsive without requiring daily price checks. Many producers review feed costs monthly and make adjustments when the monthly average price moves significantly from their budget.

Recalculate Phase Costs

When ingredient prices change, recalculate the cost per ton for each phase diet. Your nutritionist or feed mill can provide updated prices. Multiply the new phase costs by your phase feed quantities to get a revised feed cost per pig. This revised number becomes your working budget.

Decide Whether to Adjust Feeding Strategy

When feed prices rise, you have several options. You can reduce the nutrient density of later-phase diets, which lowers cost per ton but may increase days to market. You can market pigs at a lighter weight, which reduces total feed per pig but may reduce revenue per pig. You can negotiate with your packer for lighter or heavier market weights if your contract allows flexibility. You can also look for cheaper ingredient alternatives, such as DDGS or wheat middlings, but only with your nutritionist's guidance.

When feed prices fall, the opposite logic applies. You may be able to increase nutrient density to speed growth, or push pigs to heavier weights if the packer pays for the extra pounds. The key is to make these decisions deliberately, based on your revised budget, not reactively.

Use Forward Contracts Carefully

Forward contracting locks in ingredient prices for future delivery. This can protect you from price spikes, but it also prevents you from benefiting from price drops. A reasonable strategy is to forward contract 50 to 70 percent of your expected feed needs when prices are at or below your budget level. Leave the rest unpriced so you can capture favorable market moves. Never contract more than you know you will use, and always understand the delivery schedule and contract terms before signing.

Common Feed Budgeting Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Using Industry Averages Instead of Your Own Data

Industry averages are a starting point, not a target. If your barn consistently runs a 3.0 feed conversion, budgeting for 2.7 will produce a false sense of profitability. Use your own records first. Improve your numbers over time, but budget from where you actually are.

Mistake 2: Ignoring Feed Waste

Feed waste is silent profit leakage. A feeder that is set too aggressively allows pigs to root feed onto the floor. A feeder that is set too conservatively restricts intake and slows growth. Check feeders daily and adjust them so that no more than 10 to 20 percent of the feeder trough shows empty at any time. Measure waste periodically by placing a tarp under a feeder for 24 hours and weighing what the pigs waste.

Mistake 3: Forgetting to Account for Mortality and Culls

Your feed budget should include feed for pigs that die or are culled before market. These pigs eat feed but never generate revenue. If your mortality is 5 percent, you need to purchase 5 percent more feed than your per-pig calculation suggests. Add this to your budget as a separate line item.

Mistake 4: Not Weighing Feed

Estimating feed usage by counting bags or guessing bin levels is not accurate enough for budgeting. A 5 percent error in feed weighing can erase your entire profit margin. Invest in accurate scales and use them consistently.

Mistake 5: Feeding the Same Rations All Year

Ingredient prices change seasonally. Corn is typically cheaper at harvest and more expensive in late spring and summer. Soybean meal prices follow planting and growing season patterns. Adjust your ration formulations and phase feeding programs to take advantage of seasonal price differences. Your nutritionist can help you shift nutrient density or ingredient inclusions to match market conditions.

Mistake 6: Ignoring Pig Health in the Budget

Health challenges increase feed conversion and reduce daily gain. If your group experiences a disease outbreak, respiratory challenge, or enteric issue, your feed budget will be off. Build a contingency into your budget for health-related feed inefficiency, and work with your veterinarian to minimize the impact of disease on feed costs.

Mistake 7: Not Revisiting the Budget Mid-Group

A feed budget is a living document. Review it at least every two weeks during a group. Compare actual feed usage, pig weights, and costs to your plan. Make adjustments as needed. A budget that is never compared to reality is just a wish.

Decision Thresholds for Intervention

Knowing when to act is as important as knowing what to do. Use these thresholds to trigger investigations and interventions.

Feed Intake Drop

If feed intake per pig drops more than 10 percent from expected for more than two consecutive days, investigate immediately. Check water availability, feeder adjustment, feed quality, barn temperature, and pig health. A sudden drop in intake is often the first sign of a disease outbreak or a management failure like a locked auger or empty bin.

Feed Conversion Worsening

If cumulative feed conversion is more than 0.3 above your budgeted target, determine the cause. Weigh pigs to confirm actual gain. Check feed usage records to confirm actual intake. If both are accurate, investigate health, environment, and diet quality. A sustained feed conversion problem of this magnitude costs significant money and requires a response.

Cost per Pig Over Budget

If feed cost per pig is more than 5 percent over budget at any point in the group, recalculate your projections. Determine whether the cause is price, feed conversion, or waste. If prices rose, decide whether to adjust rations or market weights. If conversion worsened, investigate management and health. If waste increased, fix the feeder issue.

Market Weight Projections

If pigs are not gaining at the rate needed to reach market weight on schedule, calculate the cost of extending the feeding period. Each extra day on feed adds feed cost, labor, and facility cost. Compare this to the revenue from a heavier pig. Sometimes it pays to feed longer. Sometimes it pays to market early. The decision depends on your feed costs, your packer's pricing grid, and your facility utilization.

Monitoring and Recordkeeping Systems That Work

Good recordkeeping does not have to be complicated. The best system is one you use consistently. Choose a method that fits your operation and stick with it.

Paper Records

A simple notebook or clipboard with columns for date, feed delivered, feed phase, pig count, and pig weights can work well for small operations. Keep it in the barn office where it is easy to access. Record every feed delivery and every pig removal. Weigh pigs on a regular schedule and record the results.

Spreadsheets

A spreadsheet program like Excel or Google Sheets gives you more analytical power with minimal extra effort. Set up a template with your budgeted numbers and enter actual data weekly. Use formulas to calculate feed conversion, daily gain, and feed cost per pig. Many land-grant universities offer free swine recordkeeping spreadsheets. Your extension agent can point you to these resources.

Commercial Software

Several commercial swine recordkeeping programs are available that track feed, weights, health, and financial data. These range from simple cloud-based tools to comprehensive herd management systems. Choose one that matches your operation size and your comfort with technology. The best software is the one you will actually use.

What to Record

At minimum, record these items for every group:

Placement date and number of pigs
Average placement weight
Feed deliveries by date, phase, and tonnage
Pig removals by date, reason, and weight
Death loss with cause if known
Sample weights every two to four weeks
Feed prices paid for each delivery
Market date, number of pigs, and average market weight

What to Calculate

From these records, calculate:

Average daily gain
Feed conversion ratio
Feed cost per pound of gain
Feed cost per pig
Days on feed
Mortality rate

Compare these numbers to your budget and to your historical averages. Trends over several groups are more useful than single-group numbers.

Working with Your Nutritionist and Feed Mill

Your nutritionist and feed mill are partners in feed cost control. They have information and tools you may not have, and they can help you optimize rations for current ingredient prices.

Provide Accurate Pig Performance Data

Share your feed conversion, daily gain, and mortality data with your nutritionist. This information helps them formulate rations that match your pigs' needs. A nutritionist working with incomplete data will default to conservative formulations that cost more than necessary.

Ask for Phase-Specific Costs

Request a complete price for each phase diet, including all ingredients, manufacturing, and delivery. Understand what is driving the cost of each phase. Ask your nutritionist to explain the ingredient inclusions and why they are set at current levels.

Review Ration Changes

When ingredient prices shift, ask your nutritionist whether ration adjustments are warranted. They may recommend changes in amino acid ratios, energy density, or ingredient inclusions that reduce cost without sacrificing performance. These adjustments require their expertise, so work with them rather than making changes on your own.

Discuss Alternative Ingredients

Your nutritionist can evaluate alternative ingredients like DDGS, bakery meal, or wheat middlings for cost savings. These ingredients can be economical at certain price relationships, but they require careful formulation to maintain nutrient balance. Do not add alternative ingredients without professional guidance.

When to Call Your Veterinarian or Extension Agent

Some feed budget problems are really health problems in disguise. Know when to bring in professional help.

Call Your Veterinarian If

Feed intake drops more than 10 percent for more than two days
Pigs show signs of respiratory disease, diarrhea, or neurologic signs
Mortality increases above your historical baseline
Multiple pigs refuse to eat or show poor appetite
You suspect a feed contamination or mycotoxin issue
Pigs are not gaining weight despite adequate feed intake

Call Your Extension Agent If

You need help setting up a recordkeeping system
You want to compare your performance to regional benchmarks
You are considering a major change in feeding strategy or facilities
You need help interpreting feed price trends or market outlook
You want to evaluate the economics of different market weights or ration programs

Your veterinarian and extension agent are free or low-cost resources that can save you significant money. Use them early, before small problems become expensive ones.

Seasonal Considerations for Feed Budgeting

Feed costs and pig performance vary by season. Build seasonal factors into your budget so you are not surprised when summer heat or winter cold affects your numbers.

Summer

Heat stress reduces feed intake and daily gain. Pigs eat less when temperatures exceed their comfort zone, especially above 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Provide adequate water, improve ventilation, and consider feeding during cooler parts of the day. Your feed conversion will likely worsen during summer months. Budget for this seasonal decline.

Winter

Cold weather increases maintenance energy requirements. Pigs need more energy to stay warm, which means they may eat more feed per pound of gain if barn temperatures drop too low. Proper ventilation and supplemental heat in the pig zone can reduce this effect. Watch for drafts and cold floors that increase energy needs.

Spring and Fall

These shoulder seasons often have the best pig performance because temperatures are moderate. Feed conversion tends to be best in these periods. If you have flexibility in your production schedule, consider placing more pigs during these favorable seasons.

Long-Term Feed Cost Reduction Strategies

Beyond day-to-day budgeting, you can take longer-term steps to reduce feed costs and improve your operation's profitability.

Improve Genetics

Genetics influence feed conversion, daily gain, and carcass quality. Work with your seedstock supplier to select genetics known for efficient gain. This is a long-term investment that pays off over many groups.

Optimize Market Weight

Find the market weight that maximizes your profit, not just the weight that maximizes revenue. As pigs get heavier, feed conversion worsens and the cost per pound of gain increases. Your packer's pricing grid determines what you receive for each pound. Calculate the marginal cost of adding another pound of gain and compare it to the marginal revenue. This analysis tells you the optimal market weight for your operation.

Reduce Mortality

Every pig that dies before market has consumed feed without generating revenue. Reducing mortality from 6 percent to 3 percent on a 1,000-head group saves the feed cost of 30 pigs, which can be $2,000 or more. Work with your veterinarian to identify mortality causes and implement prevention programs.

Improve Facility Efficiency

Good ventilation, temperature control, and feeder design all contribute to feed efficiency. Pigs in comfortable environments convert feed more efficiently than pigs in stressful environments. Regular maintenance of ventilation systems, feeders, and waterers prevents small problems from becoming costly ones.

Negotiate Feed Prices

If you buy complete feed, get quotes from multiple mills and negotiate on volume. If you buy ingredients, compare prices from multiple suppliers and consider group purchasing with neighboring producers. A $5 per ton difference on a 100-ton group is $500.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much feed does a grow-finish pig eat from 50 pounds to market?

A typical grow-finish pig eats 600 to 700 pounds of feed from 50 pounds to a market weight of 280 to 300 pounds. The exact amount depends on genetics, feed conversion, health status, and market weight. A pig with a 2.8 feed conversion gaining 235 pounds needs about 658 pounds of feed. Add 5 percent for waste to get a working estimate of 690 pounds per pig.

What is a good feed conversion ratio for grow-finish pigs?

A feed conversion ratio of 2.6 to 2.9 is a reasonable target for most commercial grow-finish operations. High-health herds with modern genetics and excellent management can achieve 2.4 to 2.5. Older facilities, health-challenged pigs, or heavy market weights above 290 pounds may run 3.0 or higher. Track your own historical average and use that as your baseline for improvement.

How do I calculate feed cost per pig?

To calculate feed cost per pig, multiply the total pounds of feed per pig by the cost per pound of feed. If a pig eats 658 pounds of feed and the average ration cost is $0.11 per pound ($220 per ton), the feed cost is $72.38 per pig. For more accuracy, calculate the cost for each phase diet separately and add them together, since grower rations typically cost more per ton than finisher rations.

What is the daily feed cost for a grow-finish pig?

Daily feed cost ranges from about $0.60 to $1.20 per pig depending on the phase of production and ingredient prices. Early grower pigs eating 4 pounds per day at $0.12 per pound cost about $0.48 per day. Late finisher pigs eating 8 pounds per day at $0.10 per pound cost about $0.80 per day. These numbers vary with ration costs and pig size.

How much does feed cost as a percentage of total pig production cost?

Feed typically accounts for 60 to 70 percent of total grow-finish production costs. This percentage varies with ingredient prices, facility costs, and pig performance. When corn and soybean meal prices are high, the feed percentage can exceed 70 percent. When prices are low, it may fall below 60 percent. Regardless of the exact percentage, feed is always the largest cost you control.

Should I forward contract my feed ingredients?

Forward contracting can protect you from price increases, but it also limits your ability to benefit from price decreases. A reasonable strategy is to contract 50 to 70 percent of your expected feed needs when prices are at or below your budget level. Leave the remainder unpriced to capture favorable market moves. Always understand the contract terms, including delivery schedules and penalties for non-performance.

How often should I weigh my grow-finish pigs?

Weigh a sample of pigs every two to four weeks during the grow-finish period. Weigh at least 20 to 30 pigs per barn, using the same scale and procedure each time. This frequency gives you enough data to track average daily gain and feed conversion without disrupting the pigs or creating extra labor. More frequent weighing may be needed if you suspect a health or management problem.

What should I do if my feed conversion suddenly worsens?

If feed conversion worsens by more than 0.3 from your expected value, investigate immediately. Check feed usage records for accuracy, weigh pigs to confirm actual gain, and inspect feeders for waste. Check barn temperature, ventilation, and water availability. Look for signs of disease. If you cannot identify a management cause, call your veterinarian. Catching the problem early can save thousands of dollars in wasted feed.

Related Farming Guides

This section will be populated with links to related farming guides on swine production, feed management, and cost control. Check back for updates or browse the farming guide library for more resources on pig farming and livestock management.

Related Clinical & Scientific Guides

References

National Pork Board: https://www.pork.org/
USDA APHIS Swine Health: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/swine
FAO Pig Production: https://www.fao.org/pig-production-and-products/en/
FAO Animal Production and Health: https://www.fao.org/animal-production/en/
WOAH (World Organisation for Animal Health): https://www.woah.org/en/home/

This article is educational and is not a substitute for veterinary diagnosis, treatment, public-health guidance, or regulatory reporting.