Is It Hard To Survive On Pig Farming Today In Northern Thai?

[Phillo]

I thinking of together with a friend of mine start a pig form somewhere close to the border to laos, anyway i som question about this "little" project......

i dont know much about farming but from what have read here and on other sites so have the kg price dropped a lot the last time...

we are thinking of starting with about 200 piglets, and i understand that the growing time until they reach hopefully around 100 kg is about 6 months and you have a cost for every pig around 3000 baht, with the costs for the piglets included.

Is this about right?

how hard is to find a good buyer for 200 pigs or you have to find many small ones and sell bit by bit?

anyone with some experience from this buisness who can tell me if its even any idea to start a pig farm in thailand today if you thinking of living on it, and you dont have a big budget to fall back to....??

any other thoughts or ideas or comments i will be very greatful for!!

thanks in advance!

//Philip

[chownah]

Phillo,

Welcome...take a look around in this farming forum....you will find alot of information about how to raise pigs and about the economics. I think if you read some of the stuff that's already here you will find most if not all of the answers you are looking for.

Chownah

[ozzydom]

A look at all the empty pig sty,s/pens in villages all over Thailand would indicate that now is not a good time to enter the pig business.

A friend has been offered a best price of 28 baht/kg for his 90-100kg porkers.

[Tilapia]

I thinking of together with a friend of mine start a pig form somewhere close to the border to laos, anyway i som question about this "little" project......

i dont know much about farming but from what have read here and on other sites so have the kg price dropped a lot the last time...

we are thinking of starting with about 200 piglets, and i understand that the growing time until they reach hopefully around 100 kg is about 6 months and you have a cost for every pig around 3000 baht, with the costs for the piglets included.

Is this about right?

how hard is to find a good buyer for 200 pigs or you have to find many small ones and sell bit by bit?

anyone with some experience from this buisness who can tell me if its even any idea to start a pig farm in thailand today if you thinking of living on it, and you dont have a big budget to fall back to....??

any other thoughts or ideas or comments i will be very greatful for!!

thanks in advance!

//Philip

Hi Philip.

Pig business is tough right now, it will recover, the big question is when ??? You should not start with 200 pigs at one time, it will be hard to find people to buy the pigs, remember that you have to sell them between 90-100kg, so that will put pressure on you. The best way is to get 10-20 at each time, the wait 2-3 weeks and get another 10-20 pigs, that way you have more time to find the market for your pigs, and the cost for feed will be spead out over a greater period. You have to find a good feed source as well, buing it from the local dealer in the town, will eat up any profit. The price for pigs now is between 29-35 baht/kg, and you will need about 40 baht/kg for breaking even. Good luck.

Tilapia.

[Maizefarmer]

Phillo

Exercise caution (up near the Loatian border) - measels, F&T and a few other dieseses are rife.

Loas, although having strict rules regards livestock health (and movement of livestock), has all but failed to enforce most of them.

Meat smuggling (from Laos to Thailand) is a non-stop 24/7 businesss - at any given time there is always diesesed fresh meat hanging in the local markets - the majority of which is pork smuggled in from Laos - and sold cheaply: so thats the other thing to keep in mind - pork prices are low along the Thai/Loation border regions for all the wrong reasons and you will find profit/margins lower and risks potentialy higher.

MF

- not wanting to discourage you - just think these are points to keep in mind.

[fruity]

Hi Philo,

As already said by all, the simple answer to your question is YES, it would be very difficult to survive, if not impossible raising pigs the way you propose. Pig raising worldwide has always been a very 'dicey' business, some years you can make money, some years draw even, sometimes lose, hence the old farming saying 'Pigs are either muck or money' unfortunately, just now they are muck, although prices are on the rise. Last week sold some out at 40 baht/kilo, today Pork in the city market @ 85 baht/kilo & at my feed merchant today, prices per bag of feed up 15 baht/-30 kg bag; always a down side.

A question that never arises here is 'Do you like Pigs?'.....Personally, I do, they are very intelligent & amusing animals; as a matter of interest, the Pig being the only farmyard animal that can be 'house trained'....lol...not that any of us want one living indoors......

We do not keep so many, we breed our own piglets & rear them until finished, we have good stock, all from peformance tested herds & we try to make their lives as bearable as possible, providing in each house toys for amusement, twice daily showers etc. A happy, contented pig does much better than one imprisoned in cramped quarters, bored out of its mind.

Philo, buy a copy of CITY OF LIVESTOCK magazine; it is all in Thai, of course, but has lots of pictures, get your Thai friend to read / translate pieces of interest. If nothing else, looking at the pictures, ads etc this will give you an idea, how huge the pig industry is here in Thailand & what is required to make money.

Fruit.

[raylo]

I thinking of together with a friend of mine start a pig form somewhere close to the border to laos, anyway i som question about this "little" project......

Where in Thailand? - the Laos border covers a bit of territory. I have a pig farm on the Laos border - Phayao district. If you are in the region contact me and I will exchange info.

1st As hinted before: you need to have breeders to make a decent profit, Buying piglets at between 500 & 1200 baht is a profit killer - plus immunisation. Pork currently varies between 30 - 40 bt per kilo. Both price extremes were last month. And it is not just up here. Same prices confirmed from Isaan last month.

It should recover to its old high of 50 but who knows when. You can do the maths, Thai are pork eaters though. Wow. So am I. And I can spell!

2nd as before: You need local contacts to buy feed etc. Feed is expensive and a enjoys a wide range of prices- mix it with rice husk / powder reduces the financial burden but you need to buy that at the right price. Mix it with corn as well but corn is currently triple its seasonal price at the moment. It took me over a year to find the right supplier for cheap rice. That is with a Thai "pork" family.

3rd On a previous thread someone suggested banana trees. Yep they love them but it takes approximately 12 months to produce a reasonable one also they can affect the pigs digestive tracts.

4th The Laos trade seems to be predominantly beef. I watch it every day. I know the inspectors who patrol the area. My rib fillet for my dinner party tomorrow night might come from Laos. No one in the district has had any ill effects from beef but 10 people regionally died last month from pork