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Ohio | I've been in a similar situation as the OP here in Ohio. I managed a 2500 head sow unit for 3 years and worked with that company for over 5. When there was an opportunity for me to return home and be much more involved with the family grain farm I took it. My income from the farm is about half of what I was making managing the hog farm when you include the benefits package, productions bonus, and salary. I was looking at other ways to increase my income and naturally a contract finisher made sense. I have been around the construction of many hog building wether it was a sow unit or finisher and what I discovered was that if you build one you better know what you're getting and be there watching the crew from start to finish to make sure it is done correctly. The big ones in Ohio build as fast and as cheap as they possibly can. The old saying about good, fast, and cheap, pick two in this case is very true. The problem I have is if I'm spending a half million I better be getting a good product because in my mind that isn't cheap by any means. If you build one you have to take care of the building and the upkeep from day one or it will be junk in 10 years. I've been in several finishers operated by different growers for the same company and it is remarkable to compare the quality of the buildings that are five years old and how much it can vary.
Ultimately I decided to pursue a different business opportunity for several reasons. Initial debt load was a big one. After looking at hogs for roughly 300 days a year for 8 years I was also kind of tired of them. I enjoy livestock and my degree is in animal science, but I'm not passionate enought about hogs to take on that kind of responsibility on my own with a little help at load out times with my family. When I did the math on it I would be putting around $15,000 in my pocket per year. Of that 15,000 I would have to pay out any hired labor as well as some of the manure application costs. While I wouldn't go as far as to say you'd be working for free I don't think you're going to make enough to really build a farm around in these times.
That was my experience, you might be more passionate about getting up every morning to go look at pigs than I am. I'm not saying I'd be against building a finisher in the future under different circumstances, but at that point roughly a year ago I did not feel like it was a good fit for me and my long term goals. | |
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Finishing Barns
