Marketing your pigs will require some preplanning on your part to ensure pigs are slaughtered on a timely basis. In most cases slaughter plants or abattoirs often require you to book your pigs a couple months in advance. Ensure you can reserve an approximate slaughter date before you purchase pigs. Also, if you don’t already know, pigs going to slaughter off farm require an approved PigTRACE ear tag, tattoo, or stencil. Your provincial pork organization can help you with this (Requirements – Small Scale Pig Farming). Another important note is to ensure all withdrawal times are followed for and treatments or medications administered to your pigs prior to shipment or slaughter. Not following withdrawal times could create a food safety risk. An often over looked aspect of marketing is you interaction with the slaughter plant or abattoir, as this location is a very high risk place for disease cross contamination. Ensure to change clothes and wash your truck and trailer prior to coming into contact with your pigs. This will help reduce potential disease spread. If you plan on slaughtering on-farm, take pre-cautions that will reduce contamination during processing and from handling and consuming raw or undercooked meat products. For more information check out additional resources found here: Finishing Pigs – Small Scale Pig Farming
