Just learned a whole hog only yields about 144 pounds of saleable meat, and I've been guessing my cost per pound all off

Susan Dixon · 2026-10-03T07:50:04.388689+00:00

I was pricing out a half hog for a regular customer last week when I finally sat down and ran the real numbers instead of eyeballing it. A 280 pound live hog gives you roughly 144 pounds of take home meat once you account for the head, bones, and trim, which is only about 51 percent. I'd been quoting folks like it was closer to 65 or 70 percent for who knows how long, so my cost per pound was way off. Found the breakdown in an old NAMP yield guide a retired cutter from Des Moines mailed me, of all places. Ran it on my last three hogs and every single quote I gave was low by about 40 cents a pound. Anyone else keep a written yield sheet for each species, or do you just run it off memory like I was doing?

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Just learned a whole hog only yields about 144 pounds of saleable meat, and I've been guessing my cost per pound all off | Butchers - Rigidtalk