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Starting Pig Farming Business in South Africa – Business Plan (PDF, Word & Excel)

Posted by BizBolts | Agriculture , All Articles , Business Ideas , Business Plans , Livestock Farming

Over 22 000 metric tonnes of pork are consumed every month in South Africa. That’s a lot, it goes to show you how huge the demand for pork is.  Pig farming remains one of the most popular agricultural trends all over the world, contributing to largely to the demand for protein. Due to the large demands for all sorts of meat including pork, setting up a pig farming business can be a profitable venture. Also, pig farming can be an ideal option if you are a first time livestock farmer. South Africa is a net importer of pork (more pork imports than exports), which means  it’s not self sufficient in terms of pork production. Starting a pig farming business in South Africa is a profitable venture.  A piggery business has certain exclusive considerations to adhere to which is why this article is so important. So if you’ve ever considered to venture into piggery farming business, then this article is for you. This article will outline how to start a pig farming business in South Africa, and the pig farming business plan – PDF, Word and Excel.

Before you start a commercial pig farming business in South Africa, there are some important decisions which you have to make. You have to decide on the size of your pig production business ie how many pigs you will have at your piggery farm.  Location of your piggery business, and your target market, are the other important decisions to make. The size of your piggery farming business will depend on the amount of capital you have, and your target market. Piggery farming business is capital intensive, but with a lot of potential when it comes to scaling. It’s important that you get a good piggery farming business plan before you start commercial piggery farming business in South Africa.

Market Research

Researching and finding your market are important when developing a pig farming business. Your market has a huge impact on your producer’s net sale price. As a pig farmer, you should be aware of the alternative markets available to you in order to choose the one that yields the greatest return . Make it a habit to periodically check prices and market conditions at more than one market. Ongoing market research helps you understand your customers’ or buyers’ needs. This way, you can fulfill those needs better than your competition. The ever changing consumer demands, together with local and global competition, have resulted in the business of agriculture moving from being focused on production to being market-driven. Rising public concern about animal welfare and the ethical rearing of livestock has placed increasing responsibility on the agriculture sector. Nowadays, consumers want more information about the product they buy—where it comes from (traceability) and how it has been produced. Farmers are then required to revise their production methods and standards, which often increases production costs. One way to manage these costs as a pig farmer is by shortening the value chain. By simply eliminating the middleman and selling directly to your consumers at farmers’ markets, or over the Internet, you can increase profitability.

Land for Pig Farming Business

The location of the pig farming business is an important decision to make. Proximity to major road networks is necessary for easy access to your pig farm and to the market. Your piggery farm should have reliable water supply that can be used for both human and animal consumption. Water is so important because pigs need lots of it. Your land should be large enough to accommodate the number of pigsty you require for your piggery farming business. The piggery farming business requires a gentle sloppy site with well-draining soils (e.g. loamy soils) to enable easy flow of effluence.

Housing and Equipment for Pigs

Pigs need proper and adequate housing. The are several issues to take into consideration when it comes to pig housing. Pigs require different housing owing to their different needs at various stages of growth and reproduction. Thus you can’t place all your pigs in one housing. Piglets must be closely guarded against hypothermia and hyperthermia (caused by low and high temperatures respectively) – this is central to getting them to grow to their utmost potential. In the construction of pig housing, ensure that the housing protects pigs against adverse conditions such as extreme temperatures, violent winds and incessant rains. An allowance for adequate spacing to allow free movement of the pigs is essential. Feeding and water troughs are the required equipment for a piggery farming business.  Your commercial pig farming business plan should include the costs of purchasing equipment and piggery housing.

The Business Model

One profitable pig farming business model is buying boars and sows for reproduction. The piglets can be raised and then sold as live or fresh pork. There are various other considerations to this business model, which include acquiring the right amount of land, obtaining the right genetic breed, implementing the necessary biosecurity measures, and ensuring that the necessary health measures are in place to prevent diseases. Another important factor that some farmers seem to neglect is finding a quality feed supplier for your pigs. The most important part of running a pig farming business is knowing what to feed your pigs and how much you should feed them. Pigs need a high energy diet that is low in fiber and contains enough protein. After production and feeding techniques, determining your market is also an important factor. Some of the places you can consider selling your pigs include your local abattoir, nearby townships, butcheries, or to individuals straight from your farm. Your potential customers are determined by your actual farm location. It is therefore imperative that your farm be reasonably close to your market. Consider transportation costs and logistics when setting up your pig farm. Ideally, a pig farm should be less than 200 km from the market. Your choice of land will need to be separated from residential land.

Breeding stock for pig production business

To start your pig farming business in South Africa, you need breeding stock i.e. boars and sows (which are males and females respectively). These are the parents pigs which will mate to produce the piglets (pigs offspring). You will then raise the piglets and sell them. When buying these it’s important to get them from reputable and professional suppliers. Getting good quality boars and sows plays a pivotal role in producing pigs with high growth potential and good quality pork.

You need one boar for every 15-20 sows. A sow can produce as many as 9-11 piglets from 1 pregnancy – and it can get pregnant 2 times per year. The pregnancy of a sow lasts 114 days i.e. 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days. All these proportional variables are what will inform how many boars and sows you’ll purchase in light of your intended scale of production. Your pig farming budgets should include the costs of purchasing the pigs parent stock.

Feed for the pigs

Feeds always tend to be the biggest cost in animal husbandry and so is the case with piggery farming. The pigs must be given the correct kind and amount of feed at each stage of growth and reproduction. Correct and adequate feeding ensure efficient reproduction, fast growth of piglets, better feed conversion ratio, and good quality pork after slaughter. All those factors lead to increased profits for your piggery farming business. Don’t use shortcuts in the feeding regime of pigs because at the end of the day they must meet the target slaughter weights for you to be profitable. Pigs are fed with commercial piggery feeds and supplementary feeds/home made feeds. Supplementary feeds for pigs consists mainly of grains eg maize, wheat.

Management And Labour For A Piggery Farm

Mostly depends on the scale of production but tends to need consistently available hands. There are quite a number of routine tasks that need to be regularly done in the care of pigs. There is need for pig keepers who will be responsible for f eeding the pigs,  training the boars, arranging the mating of pigs,  cleaning and disinfecting the pig housings, washing the pigs, monitoring the health of the pigs  and other duties. There may also be need for a dedicated finance and marketing team, depending on the size of your piggery business. Your piggery business plan should take into account the salary costs for all your employees.

Sales and Marketing Strategies

A pig farming business’ marketing involves many different aspects. Your marketing efforts will depend on the size and needs of your pig farm. Small, localized farms have limited marketing needs compared to large commercial farms, which serve different areas and larger groups of people. In any case, it is critical for your farming business to promote and place your product in front of the right people so that you can generate revenue. The best way is to approach all potential customers in your local community, you will certainly get customers. You can also promote your pig farming business is by having an online presence. You must take advantage of social media and consider setting up an inexpensive, simple website. List your business in the yellow pages and online directories like Google My Business. After establishing your online presence, do not forget to engage with your customers. This way, you can reach your customers wherever they are, address customer queries, sell online, ask for reviews, handle orders, and even acquire new leads. Another effective way you can promote your pig farm is by attending agricultural trade shows and events. This is a great way for you to promote your farm. Also, make use of flyers, offer discounts, and network with people within the industry. A strong network can ease distribution and help you facilitate deals that result in more sales and growth for your business.

As indicated in the opening remarks of this article, the market is abundantly available, since South Africa ends up importing pork from other countries. The is high demand of pork in South Africa, in excess of 270 000 tonnes per year. About 55% of the pork produced in South Africa is processed into ready-to-eat products, sausages, fillets, chops and bacon. The remaining 45% is for the fresh market where it’s bought for consumption. You can supply your pigs/pork to Abattoirs , hotels, restaurants, retailers, butcheries, meat processors and individuals. The pigs can be slaughtered between the ages of 4 months to 6 months. The variations in slaughter age will depend on whether you want to sell the pigs as porkers or baconers.

Slaughtered pig carcasses

Advantages of Pig Farming Business

Apart from being one of the most effective livestock farming business models, there are many other reasons why you should consider pig farming. Pigs are popular for their meat yield, which  ranges from 65 – 80 in comparison to other livestock whose dressing yields do not exceed 65%. A pig has the highest feed conversion efficiency. This means that they produce more live weight gain from a given weight of feed than any other class of meat producing animals except for broilers. These animals can utilize a wide variety of feed, including grains, forages, and damaged feed, and convert the food into valuable, nutritious meat. You must be cautious not to, overfeed the pig with damaged grains and other unbalanced rations, which may result in lower feed efficiency. Pig farming will also give you quick returns since the weight of fatteners can be achieved in a short period of 6–8 months. The capital investments for setting up a pig farm are relatively low, and the growing demand for meat, including pork, indicates how lucrative setting up a pig farm in South Africa is.

Keys to Profitability

Some great tips for running a profitable pig farm include giving your livestock the right feed, choosing the best supplements, and housing the pigs appropriately. A lot of farmers experience high transportation costs, so it is wise not to be too far away from your market. With proper marketing strategies and patience, you can easily set up a profitable pig farming business in South Africa.

PRE-WRITTEN PIG FARMING BUSINESS PLAN (PDF, WORD AND EXCEL): COMPREHENSIVE VERSION, SHORT FUNDING/BANK LOAN VERSION AND AUTOMATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For an in-depth analysis of the pig farming business in South Africa, purchase our piggery farming business plan. We decided to introduce the business plans after noting that many South Africans were venturing into the pig production business without a full understanding of the industry, market, how to run the business, the risks involved, profitability of the business and the costs involved, leading to a high failure rate of their businesses.

Our business plan will make it easier for you to launch and run a pig production business successfully, fully knowing what you are going into, and what’s needed to succeed in the business. It will be easier to plan and budget as the piggery business plan will lay out all the costs involved in setting up and running the piggery farming business. The business plan is designed specifically for the South African market.

USES OF THE PIGGERY BUSINESS PLAN (PDF, WORD AND EXCEL)

The pig production business plan can be used for many purposes including:

• Raising capital from investors/friends/relatives
• Applying for a bank loan
• Start-up guide to launch your pig farming business
• As a pig farming project proposal
• Assessing profitability of the pig farming business in South Africa
• Finding a business partner
• Assessing the initial start-up costs so that you know how much to save
• Manual for current business owners to help in business and strategy formulation

CONTENTS OF THE COMMERCIAL PIG FARMING BUSINESS PLAN (PDF, WORD AND EXCEL)

The business plan includes, but not limited to:

• Market Analysis
• Industry Analysis
• 5 Year Automated Financial Statements [ Income statements, cash flow statements, balance sheets, monthly cash flow projections (3 years monthly cash flow projections, the remaining two years annually),break even analysis, payback period analysis, start-up costs, financial graphs, revenue and expenses, Bank Loan Amortisation]
• Marketing Strategy
• Risk Analysis
• SWOT & PEST Analysis
• Operational Requirements
• Pig farming guide (Technical Details of how to breed, feed and raise the pigs)
• Operational Strategy
• Why some South Africans in the pig production business fail, so that you can avoid their mistakes
• Ways to raise capital to start your pig farming business in South Africa
• Directory [Contact Details for South African suppliers of feeds, equipment, breeding stock, Pig Abattoirs, contacts of pig farming training companies in South Africa, contacts of pig farming organisations in South Africa]

The Piggery Business Plan package consist of 5 files

• Pig Farming Business Plan – PDF file (Comprehensive – 92 pages)
• Pig Farming Business Plan – Editable Word File (Comprehensive – 92 pages)
• Pig Farming Business Plan Funding Version – Editable Word File (Short version for applying for a loan – 44 pages)
• Pig Farming Business Plan Automated Financial Statements – (Editable Excel file)
• Pig Abattoirs in South Africa -Supplementary PDF File

Testimonial 6

It is with excitement and pleasure to inform you that I have been successful in securing a loan from my bank. This would not have been possible if not for the BizBolts Business Plan. Thank you for your help, my dreams are now coming true.

Testimonial 2

I am extremely pleased with the business plan and financial statements. The business plan is very detailed & it meets my requirements. I feel better equipped with tools that can help me secure funding.  I would have no hesitation of recommending your business plans to other people.

Testimonial 7

Thank you BizBolts for the business plan. I received the business plan immediately after payment, it was money well spent ! I was able to easily edit the business plan. After using the BizBolts business plan, I can wholeheartedly recommend their products and skills.

Testimonial 1

Many thanks to the BizBolts team for putting together a fantastic business plan, I could not have done this business plan on my own. I managed to get funding from investors to start my butchery business using your business plan.

Testimonial 3

The business plan has a highly professional look and feel. The research really helps me look deep into the market that I am targeting, it’s well suited for the South African market. The business plan clearly outlined everything I need to start the business and the costs. It’s now easier to budget and plan. Thank you very much.

Testimonial 5

The BizBolts poultry business plan led us down the path from start to finish. Contact details of suppliers of key requirements were included in the business plan. It helped us crystallize our strategy, and the business plan was well received by the bank.

Testimonial 4

The business plan was very helpful, you did a great job of taking ideas and putting them into words as well as pointing out other aspects of the business plan I wouldn’t have thought of. I got funding using your business plan and it’s now 4 months since I started my poultry business, and everything is going well.

GET THE PIG FARMING BUSINESS PLAN (PDF, WORD AND EXCEL) - R500 Only.

We decided to make the business plan affordable to anyone who would want to start the business, and the price for the pre-written business plan is only 500 Rand.

We have several payment methods which you can use.

Payment Method 1 (Visa card, Mastercard, Credit card, Debit Card)

Click  Buy Now  below to purchase. After you have purchased, you will instantly see the download link for the business plan package on the screen. We will also email you the download link. Get instant access to the business plan now!

If you want to purchase multiple business plans at once using Visa Card/MasterCard then  click here: Business Plans Store

The business plan package is a zipped compressed file containing the PDF, Word and Excel documents. To open the package after downloading it, just right click, and select Extract All. If you have any problems in downloading and opening the files, email us on [email protected] and we will assist you.

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About The Author

BizBolts (Pty) Ltd is a business research company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. We sell prewritten business plans for various industries including livestock production, crop farming and retail businesses. BizBolts also publishes articles on business ideas, business news, business tips, personal finance, and entrepreneur profiles.

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Agri export boom must boost local food security

Staff writer

Posted 03/07/2024 Updated 11/07/2024 5 mins

Agriculture is a strong export sector, but we need to ensure local food security too.

South Africa’s total agricultural exports reached a new record of $13.2 billion (R251bn) in 2023, up 3% from 2022. Our predominant agricultural exports were citrus, maize, apples, pears, nuts, wine, soybeans, sugar, wool, grapes, berries, avocados, and fruit juices, although the market underwent significant fluctuations. For example, fruit prices increased while grain prices declined. Our main export markets were other African countries, accounting for 38%, Asia (28%) and the European Union (19%).

Agricultural imports over the same period totalled around $7bn (R133bn), representing a healthy trade surplus of $6.2bn (R118bn). The surplus indicates the ongoing importance of agriculture to the national economy.

The export performance is remarkable, considering the serious energy and transport logistics issues affecting SA’s economy. If these issues could be resolved, export volumes will be considerably higher. In the meantime, the Departments of Trade, Industry and Competition and Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development have been collaborating with industry bodies to grow the export market. Recent meetings with Saudi Arabia, a major agricultural importer, were geared towards this growth.  

Food security risks

The commercial farming sector is achieving export growth under challenging macroeconomic conditions. However, the agricultural sector overall actually contracted in 2023 by more than 12%, due to increased input costs and lower volumes locally, as well as the commonly experienced seasonal constraints of weather and livestock diseases.

While export performance is commendable, the contraction of the sector puts pressure on smaller-scale farmers who are supplying food to local communities. It also puts upward pressure on food prices for a population already struggling with unemployment, load-shedding and other challenges. 

According to Stats SA, 10 million tonnes of food go to waste every year in South Africa

Another issue is that commercial farmers control and farm most of the available land, while small-scale subsistence farmers make up most of the participants in the sector. In addition to the pressure to maintain food security for South Africa’s population in a tough economy, both sectors are vulnerable to additional threats – especially climate change.

Commercial farmers

• Produce around 80% of South Africa’s food, so are crucial to our national food security.
• Are regionally and globally competitive, using a combination of technology and large-scale business practices to increase yields and maintain food security.

Small-scale farmers

• Contribute significantly to household food security in their communities.
• Face business and other challenges, including a lack of skills, insufficient capital and inadequate technology and mechanisation.
• Experience knock-on effects of these challenges on not only food production, but also their ability to fight climate change and manage soil sustainably.  

These risks to food production and security are also regional. With sub-Saharan Africa set to see some of the fastest population growth, producing 1 of the youngest populations in the world over the next 20 years, food security and provision will be vital. South Africa’s well-developed commercial farming sector can contribute to food security in the region significantly through increased exports, but the local economy puts domestic food security at risk through a lack of available employment and economic growth, coupled with rising food prices and inflation.  

Solutions for food security challenges

South Africa’s electricity crisis is a major threat to our food security. Load-shedding is not going away in the short term. For your farm to remain a viable agricultural operation, it is crucial that you invest in sustainable alternative power supply.

Solar, wind, and hydro energy systems are all becoming more viable and affordable, either to run your own small-scale farming operations, or on a commercial scale that will allow you to sell excess electricity back to the grid.

Smaller-scale farmers can also contribute to greater domestic food security by adopting the following:

• Crop diversity This is one of the simplest, most cost-effective methods to ensure farming sustainability and resilience. Monocrops are especially vulnerable to changes in climate or soil, while mixed cropping can help repair the effects of over-farming and cut down on your need for irrigation and pesticides.
• Advice You may not be able to invest in expensive technology, but you can consult advisory services that cater to your needs as a small-scale farmer to extend your crop and livestock knowledge. This education on sustainable farming practices might run counter to generations of tradition, but adopting modern agricultural practice is essential if you want to farm sustainably.
• Crop-strain variety Cultivating different genetic strains of the same crop promotes the health, productivity, resilience, and nutritional value of the plants.
• Reducing food waste According to Stats SA, 10 million tonnes of food go to waste every year in South Africa – a third of the 31 million tonnes that we produce annually. This wastage has a negative impact on the environment and food security. The more surplus food that can be recovered and redistributed across the food system, the better. It also improves the supply-side outlook for local producers.  

Nedbank's  agribusiness services offer a wide range of advisory and investment services for commercial farmers. Our blogs include tips about more sustainable agribusiness and finance and investment assistance. For more information, email us at  [email protected]  or  download our brochure.

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The secret to saving money is not to think too much about it. Just start doing it.

Published 07 Feb 2024 in nedbank:blog/investing

Published 07 Feb 2024

How to manage your own online share trading

The OST platform makes the stock market more accessible to investors at all levels.

Published 07 Dec 2022 in nedbank:blog/investing

Published 07 Dec 2022

Beginner’s guide: Share trading on the stock market

Digital share trading platforms make it easier to start investing in the stock market.

Published 29 Apr 2024 in nedbank:blog/investing

Published 29 Apr 2024

Beyond the price: Finding your perfect home

Finding your perfect home goes beyond looks and budget – these factors matter too.

Published 28 Aug 2024 in nedbank:blog/property

Published 28 Aug 2024

Demergers and unbundling: adding shareholder value

Demergers can free up component companies to maximise shareholder value.

By Zondi Nduli, Nedbank CIB

Zondi Nduli, Nedbank CIB

What are annuities and how do they work?

Choosing the right kind of annuity will enable you to enjoy the retirement you want.

Published 03 Feb 2023 in nedbank:blog/investing

Published 03 Feb 2023