Notice of Violation followup

The Snohomish county health department has agreed that the regulation as written seems to have several problems; while it describes ways to feed garbage to pigs, that seems to conflict with their requirement to have the material be stored in "rodent proof containers".  You can have one or the other, but not both.   

"garbage" isn't defined in this statute, but it is in federal law.  Garbage contains meat or slaughter offal -- this is solely vegetables and fruits.  I don't think that this material is properly regulated by the health department as it's not garbage as defined, but they believe it is. 

They agree that it may not fight into the "public or common nuisance" as described by WAC 246-203-010. 

So what do I do?  

Well...  the health department has asked me to work with the Snohomish county conservation district to either develope a protocol or a farm plan to allow the feeding of fruits and vegetables to pigs or other livestock. 

Yep.  So one agency refers me to another agency, and now I get to work with both of them. 

My biggest gripe is that these guys seem to think that i have all the time in the the world (not to mention willingness to pay legal fees and costs) to work with them. 

Each of these agencies has the belief that their demands are reasonable.  "Were only asking for 10%, after all!" but the cumulative effect of dealing with all of these guys and their agendas is a tax that I am really hating having to pay. 

I'll keep you apprised as always. 

Notice of Violation

[Update, 2-5-2012:  Tim, at Natures Harmony, points out that this is evidence that I'm feeding waste to my pigs.  What he neglects to mention is that "whey", as in the by-product of cheese production, is classified as the same sort of waste.   The law varies from state to state on what's legal to feed to pigs.  In Missouri, for instance, Whey is a banned as a pig food.   Summary?  Tim feeds waste to his pigs, too.  For the specific reference, Check page 2 of the comments on this post.    For a more on this controversy, click here.]


Another government department has taken official notice of my farm.  I got a "notice of violation" for "improper handling of solid waste" from the Snohomish County Health Department. 

What waste are they speaking of? 

Yep, you guessed it.  The produce that I feed to my pigs.   They've decided that I'm in violation of the public nuisance provisions of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC), specifically WAC 246-203-180

I've had plenty of agencies bug me about my farm, so I'm getting kinda blase about the whole thing.  "What would you like me to do to address your concerns" is a pretty good starting point. 

  "We want you to put the solid waste in rodent proof containers and to have it removed every week at the minimum.  "

  ah.  If it's rodent proof the pigs can't eat it, either.  Kinda defeats the purpose of the feed.  Would you rather it be be fed to animals, or go directly into the landfill?

So I retained an attorney for this matter.  I did ask how they came to come to my farm.  "We received a complaint".    One complaint, I asked?  "yes, one.  "

One complaint.  That qualifies as a public nuisance?  Here's the definition of a public nuisance:   WAC 246-203-010: 

"For the purpose of these regulations, a public or common nuisance shall be considered as that which is set up, maintained or continued so as to be injurious to the health, or an obstruction to the use of property by interfering with the repose, health, safety or life of any considerable number of persons."


One complaint.  55,000 cars drive by my farm every day, and one complaint in 6 years.    Someone I just don't get "...interfering with the repose, health, safety or life of any considerable number of persons."

Cost of raising your own pig, 2012 edition

I update this every year to keep everyone current on the costs of raising your own pig.  You'll find last years version here. 

Question from email: "I'm interested in raising my own pig to eat. What will it cost me?"


For pigs, the cost of raising is pig is the cost of the newly weaned pig + the cost of the feed to bring the pig to market weight + the cost of the pen to keep it + the cost of the labor.   I'm going to ignore the cost of your pen and land, and talk about just the money you'll need to spend to feed the pig to market weight. 

In western Washington, where I farm, a weaner pig will cost you $100.  This is up $15 from last year, and it's a reflection of low supply and high demand.  Some folks are paying $125 in the spring for a weaner. 

 It will take between 600 and 800lbs of feed to get that pig to market weight at $400/ton (July 2011 price). Using the higher weight, that's $160 in feed, giving you a hard-cost (piglet + feed) of $260.  This is up substantially since 2010, when feed was $290/ton. 

Having someone come to your farm and kill the pig will cost $55, and for that price they will shoot the pig, skin it, gut it and split it down the backbone. For an additional $0.55/lb they'll cut it into your pork chops and roasts and so on.   Butcher costs haven't changed since 2010. 

Adding it all up, you'll pay $260 for the pig and feed, $55 for the kill, and $110 for the cut-and-wrap, for a total of $425. This will yield approximately 150lbs of meat, for a cost per lb of $2.83, up $0.40/lb from last years number, with the majority of that increase due to higher feed and piglet costs.