Why Should You Buy a Pork Share?

Have you been thinking about bringing home the bacon…literally?

At J&R Pierce Family Farm, we’re proud to sell both whole and half shares of pork. This year, we have shares available for both spring and fall, so get in touch if you’re interested in ordering one.

**J&R Pierce Family Farm is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to allow sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon. I often link to Amazon when recommending certain products, and if you choose to purchase, I may earn a small percentage of the sale. It costs you nothing extra, and all recommended products are ones that I personally vouch for.**

What is a Pork Share?

Now, if you’ve never bought pork from us before, you might be wondering…why bother? And what is it?

It’s true, you can head to Sam’s Club or Hannaford and get pork chops for $2.50/lb. Why would you pay $3.59/lb plus butcher fees (which is what we charge for a whole share of pork), for essentially the same thing?

The short answer is: it’s not the same thing. 

When you buy a share of pork, whether it’s from us or from another local farm, you don’t just get one cut. You get EVERY cut. That means you’re stocking your freezer with pork chops, roasts, bacon, hams, sausages, steaks, tenderloin, ribs, fat, and even organs and bones, if you so chose. 

There’s far more choice in how you want your pig cut up, from the thickness of the pork chops to the flavor of the sausage. You can decide exactly what you want to be done to the meat, and most importantly, you know exactly where that meat is coming from.

Our pigs are raised outdoors (with barn access, of course, something that’s especially important in the winter, but never enforced - they’re always able to be outside if they choose). They have access to free choice grain along with tasty scraps like lettuce, kale, and more (this year, they’ve been particularly enjoying leftover milk and yogurt). 

Fat and happy is an understatement for our hogs! Although we are not certified organic, our grain is locally sourced - we believe strongly in keeping our dollars local whenever possible and know you do, too.

How Much Does it Cost to Buy a Whole Pig?

In 2025, we charge $3.89 for a half share and $3.59 for a half, plus butcher fees. 

As for the cost, I won’t sugarcoat things - buying local pork is often going to be more expensive than buying it at the grocery store, especially when you consider that you’re buying it all at once.

For a half share, you can estimate that you’ll get around 100 hanging lbs of meat (and around 70-75% of that will come back out in the retail cuts that end up in your freezer). 

Many of our customers worry about freezer space buying a whole or half share, but the general rule of thumb is that you only need about 1 cubic foot of freezer space for every 15 to 20 lbs of meat, and for a pork share, that’s not a ton of space.

Just like there’s variability in how much meat you’ll get back, or how much an animal will weigh at slaughter time, there’s some variability here, too - how you choose to have an animal cut up makes a big difference in how much space it takes up (a whole pork loin or bone-in roasts will likely take up more space in your freezer than ground sausage, which stacks easily in compact packages). 

In reality, though, it doesn’t take as much space to store a pork share as you might think, and going back to the question of cost, it often ends up being far more cost effective to purchase your meat this way, even though it doesn’t look like it at face value.

For one, once you’ve bought your pork share, the price isn’t going to change - there are no fluctuations based on spikes in demands, shortages, or anything else. What you pay is what you pay. 

We try to be as transparent as possible in our pricing; although we can’t tell you the exact amount your pig will weigh until the day it’s trucked to the slaughterhouse, we try to give our customers rough estimates based on past trends and how fast the pigs seem to be growing. And we don’t change our prices at the last minute. Once we’ve set a price for the season, it’s set.

Going back to the cost per pound, it’s important to remember that that’s the cost for ALL cuts, not just, say, pork chops. That’s your pork tenderloin, your bacon, all of it. While the cost might seem elevated for some of the cuts (like chops) that might be less expensive in the grocery store, the cost is far lower for some of the pricier ones (like bacon).

The Takeaway 

So to wrap things up, you’re buying more than just pork when you buy a share from us or any other local farm - you’re buying the freedom of customization, variety, and versatility. Of course, there are all the other benefits of buying local that I’ve yammered on about in the past too (including environmental, economic, and community benefits, to name a few).

But there’s also the big benefit of convenience, and that’s one we don’t mention enough. None of us have enough hours in the day, and investing in a share of pork (or beef, or whatever it is you choose to purchase) can save you a lot of time, effort, and brain space.

Because there’s nothing more comforting than knowing that your freezer is fully stocked with everything you need for a meal - no trip to a grocery store on a busy Friday night required. 

Get in touch if you’re interested in placing an order!