For the past six months, I've been getting pig and poultry feed from Wolfkill feed mill in Stanwood. Wolfkill has a second mill in Monroe that only does fertilizer, but they've been willing to drive bulk bags of feed down from Stanwood to Monroe for me to pick up. It's an extra $25, but well worth it considering it would cost me twice that in gas per round trip to Stanwood, plus the cost of my time.
Unfortunately, I called a few days ago to get another sack of pig feed, and after about 13 rings, someone picked up the phone and told me that the mill had been sold and shut down the previous week. Now I have a conundrum. I can either buy 50 pound sacks from the feed store in Monroe and pay significantly more than I was paying before, drive up to Conway (just south of Mt Vernon) to get bulk bags from them, or get some sort of grain bin and let Conway deliver loose bulk feed (they have a 2 ton minimum for delivery and once their auger starts they won't shut it off).
I've been really careful to avoid making big infrastructure investments, so the prospect of getting an expensive grain bin doesn't really excite me. On the other hand, it is the best long term solution if I plan on growing my pig herd substantially. I can fit about a ton of feed in the farm truck, and I go through about a ton of feed per month per 10 pigs. It takes about 2 hours roundtrip to get to Conway and costs me about $50 in gas. The bagged feed option from the local feed store is probably the best option for now, but it will increase my cost of production. I can get bagged feed for $540/ton from the feed store, compared to $480/ton from Conway (the person on the phone wouldn't quote me a price on bulk feed delivered). Wolfkill had been selling me feed at $425/ton (plus $25 for deliver and $8 for the bag it came in).
Of course, I'd love to get away from buying from the feed mills entirely, but that is not a realistic option right now. If I could secure a consistent source of brewers spent grain and/or whey/dairy that would be spectacular, but I haven't had much luck so far. I could try to grow my own pig feed, but that would probably be way too expensive. There is an organic mill in Bellingham that sells bagged feed, but it is about $1200/ton. I'd have to sell pork for $5-$6 per pound to make that work, which is probably much more than most would be willing to pay.
One last thing to think about is the fact that ruminants like cattle and sheep don't need any purchased feed at all, save hay in the winter (which we produce on the farm already), so perhaps moving toward those animals is a better option, even though I love me some pork.
Unfortunately, I called a few days ago to get another sack of pig feed, and after about 13 rings, someone picked up the phone and told me that the mill had been sold and shut down the previous week. Now I have a conundrum. I can either buy 50 pound sacks from the feed store in Monroe and pay significantly more than I was paying before, drive up to Conway (just south of Mt Vernon) to get bulk bags from them, or get some sort of grain bin and let Conway deliver loose bulk feed (they have a 2 ton minimum for delivery and once their auger starts they won't shut it off).
I've been really careful to avoid making big infrastructure investments, so the prospect of getting an expensive grain bin doesn't really excite me. On the other hand, it is the best long term solution if I plan on growing my pig herd substantially. I can fit about a ton of feed in the farm truck, and I go through about a ton of feed per month per 10 pigs. It takes about 2 hours roundtrip to get to Conway and costs me about $50 in gas. The bagged feed option from the local feed store is probably the best option for now, but it will increase my cost of production. I can get bagged feed for $540/ton from the feed store, compared to $480/ton from Conway (the person on the phone wouldn't quote me a price on bulk feed delivered). Wolfkill had been selling me feed at $425/ton (plus $25 for deliver and $8 for the bag it came in).
Of course, I'd love to get away from buying from the feed mills entirely, but that is not a realistic option right now. If I could secure a consistent source of brewers spent grain and/or whey/dairy that would be spectacular, but I haven't had much luck so far. I could try to grow my own pig feed, but that would probably be way too expensive. There is an organic mill in Bellingham that sells bagged feed, but it is about $1200/ton. I'd have to sell pork for $5-$6 per pound to make that work, which is probably much more than most would be willing to pay.
One last thing to think about is the fact that ruminants like cattle and sheep don't need any purchased feed at all, save hay in the winter (which we produce on the farm already), so perhaps moving toward those animals is a better option, even though I love me some pork.
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