A pig dresses out at roughly 72–78% of its liveweight, so a 100 kg live pig becomes about 72–78 kg of carcass. That single number is why a ₱210/kg liveweight price is not a ₱210/kg meat price, and why farmers who sell on a "dressed" basis without doing the math often lose ₱2,000 or more per pig without realizing it.
Most farming guides skip this entirely. They quote a liveweight price and stop. But the moment a trader says "dressed na lang ni, kuwentahon nato" (let's just compute it dressed), the conversation changes, and if you cannot run the conversion in your head you are negotiating blind.
Liveweight, Dressed Weight, and Meat Weight
Three different numbers, and people mix them up constantly:
- Liveweight (buhi, or LW): the live animal on the scale. This is what the DA floor price (₱210/kg, as of May 2026) and almost all farmgate price reporting refer to.
- Dressed / carcass weight: the body after slaughter, bleeding, and removing hair or skin, head (sometimes), feet, and most internal organs. In Philippine wet-market practice the "dressed" pig is usually the eviscerated carcass.
- Saleable meat weight: what is left after the butcher breaks the carcass into cuts and trims bone and excess fat. Always less than dressed weight.
Each step loses weight. The farmgate deal is almost always at liveweight. The wet market retail price you see on the liempo tray is meat weight, several handling steps and margins later. Confusing the two is how people convince themselves farmers are getting rich while pork is expensive. They are different numbers at different points in the chain.
Dressing Percentage in the Philippines
Dressing percentage is dressed weight divided by liveweight, as a percent. Under typical Philippine slaughter conditions:
| Pig type | Dressing % | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial / crossbred, 90–110 kg | 72–78% | Good muscle-to-bone ratio, finished properly |
| Lean or under-finished commercial | 70–73% | Less backfat and muscle fill |
| Native pig | 65–70% | More head, bone, and gut relative to muscle |
| Overweight (>120 kg) | up to 80% | More fat, which counts as carcass but the buyer discounts it |
pig333's reference on dressing percentage puts the global commercial range similar to this, with skin-on Philippine-style dressing usually landing in the 72–78% band. Use 75% as a working midpoint unless you know your buyer's exact method, since whether the head and skin stay on shifts the number by several points.
The Conversion, Both Directions
The two formulas you actually need:
- Liveweight kg to dressed kg: liveweight × dressing % = dressed kg
- Liveweight price to dressed-equivalent price: liveweight price ÷ dressing % = dressed price
Worked example. A 100 kg pig at ₱210/kg liveweight:
- Gross to you: 100 kg × ₱210 = ₱21,000 (this is the number that matters to you)
- Carcass it yields: 100 × 0.75 = 75 kg dressed
- Dressed-equivalent cost: ₱210 ÷ 0.75 = ₱280/kg dressed
So if a trader offers you "₱260/kg dressed," that sounds higher than ₱210 but is actually lower. ₱260 × 75 kg = ₱19,500, versus ₱21,000 selling the same pig on liveweight. That is ₱1,500 gone on one pig, just from not converting.
Liveweight to dressed yield table
| Liveweight | Dressed @ 72% | Dressed @ 75% | Dressed @ 78% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 kg | 57.6 kg | 60.0 kg | 62.4 kg |
| 90 kg | 64.8 kg | 67.5 kg | 70.2 kg |
| 95 kg | 68.4 kg | 71.3 kg | 74.1 kg |
| 100 kg | 72.0 kg | 75.0 kg | 78.0 kg |
| 110 kg | 79.2 kg | 82.5 kg | 85.8 kg |
Liveweight price to dressed-equivalent price
| Liveweight price | Dressed-equivalent @ 72% | @ 75% | @ 78% |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₱190/kg | ₱264/kg | ₱253/kg | ₱244/kg |
| ₱210/kg (DA floor) | ₱292/kg | ₱280/kg | ₱269/kg |
| ₱230/kg | ₱319/kg | ₱307/kg | ₱295/kg |
This is the table to keep on your phone. When someone quotes you a dressed price, find the row and see what liveweight it really equals. If their dressed offer divided back out is below today's liveweight farmgate price, walk.
Where Farmers Get Shortchanged
The conversion math is simple. The losses come from the parts you do not see:
- Dressed-basis quotes you cannot verify. If the pig is weighed only after slaughter, at the buyer's place, on the buyer's scale, you have no way to check the dressing percentage they applied. A buyer claiming "70% lang ni" on a well-finished pig that should dress 76% pockets the difference. Six points on a 100 kg pig at ₱280/kg dressed is roughly ₱1,700.
- Shrink during hauling. A pig loses 2–5% of liveweight to gut fill and dehydration on the trip and during fasting before slaughter, more on a long hot Mindanao-to-Manila haul with no rest. If you are paid on weight taken after that trip, you absorbed the shrink. Agree who bears it before the truck leaves. The full freight-and-shrink breakdown is in the regional liveweight price guide.
- "Bara" / eyeball estimates. Some small-town deals still price by visual estimate or a heart-girth guess instead of a scale. That always rounds toward the buyer. Learn to estimate weight yourself with a tape so you can argue with a real number.
- Vague "dressed" definition. Skin-on or skinned? Head in or out? Each swings the percentage. Pin it down before agreeing on a price, not after the knife is out.
My position on this is not neutral: sell on liveweight, on a scale, in front of you. Dressed-weight deals hand the buyer control of a number you cannot see, and in practice that number moves against the farmer almost every time. If a trader insists on dressed, do not refuse outright, just convert their offer back to a liveweight-equivalent using the table above and compare it to what you would get selling live that week. Sometimes it is fine. Often it is not. The point is you check.
Does This Mean the Butcher Is Greedy?
Worth answering, because it comes up. At ₱210/kg liveweight and 75% dressing, the carcass costs about ₱280/kg before anyone has cut it. Add slaughter fees, transport, the wet-market stall, spoilage on slow days, and the bones and trim that do not sell at liempo prices, and retail pork in the ₱350–₱400/kg range is not pure margin. The big spread between farmgate and retail is mostly real cost and several middlemen, not one person getting rich. That does not mean every quote is fair, it means the conversion is where you defend your share, not a complaint about the butcher.
For whether today's price even clears your cost, run your own numbers: how much it costs to raise a pig and profit on a 10-pig batch.
Free Tool
Break-Even Price Calculator
Enter your feed and weaner cost to see the liveweight price you need, then convert it to a dressed-equivalent before you negotiate.
Bisaya / Cebuano
Para sa mga mag-uuma
Liveweight (buhi) vs dressed (linapnusan):
- Ang baboy mga 72 hangtod 78 porsyento ra sa buhi nga timbang kung dressed na (commercial). Ang native mas ubos, mga 65 hangtod 70 porsyento.
- 100 ka kilo nga buhi nga baboy: mga 72 hangtod 78 ka kilo ra ang dressed.
Unsaon pag-convert sa presyo:
Presyo sa buhi, bahinon sa dressing porsyento. ₱210 kada kilo buhi, bahinon sa 0.75, mao ₱280 kada kilo dressed. Mao nga ang ₱260 kada kilo dressed mas ubos pa sa ₱210 kada kilo buhi. Kuwentaha usa pirme.
Tambag: Ibaligya sa buhi nga timbang, naa sa timbangan, atubangan nimo. Kung mosulti ang trader og dressed, ayaw dayon pag-oo. I-convert balik sa buhi nga presyo ug itandi. Hinumdomi sab ang shrink sa biyahe, mga 2 hangtod 5 porsyento mawala sa timbang.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the dressing percentage of a pig in the Philippines?
Commercial and crossbred pigs run 72–78% of liveweight; native pigs about 65–70%. A 100 kg commercial pig yields roughly 72–78 kg carcass. Use 75% as a working midpoint.
How do I convert liveweight price to a dressed price?
Divide by the dressing percentage. ₱210/kg liveweight ÷ 0.75 = ₱280/kg dressed-equivalent, before cutting, transport, and the butcher's margin.
Liveweight or dressed, which should I sell on?
Liveweight, on a scale you can see. Dressed deals let the buyer control the hidden number, and it moves against the farmer. Convert any dressed offer back before you agree.
How much weight does a pig lose in transport?
About 2–5% of liveweight from hauling, fasting, and lairage, more on long hot trips. Settle who absorbs shrink before the pig leaves the farm.
Tools and Related Reading
- Break-even Calculator (the liveweight price you need to not lose money)
- Profit Simulator (model a full batch at today's price)
- Pig price today in the Philippines (current liveweight farmgate range)
- Liveweight pig prices by region (regional spread, freight, and shrink detail)
- How to estimate pig weight without a scale (the heart-girth tape method)
- Crossbreed and weaner prices (the buying side)
- How much it costs to raise a pig (your side of the margin)
Sources
- pig333: Dressing percentage in pigs: definition and commercial dressing-percentage benchmarks
- PSA: Average Farmgate Price of Hogs for Slaughter, Q3 2025: ₱191.51/kg liveweight, the official liveweight basis
- BusinessWorld: Floor price for live hogs set at P210 per kilo (4 Nov 2025): ₱210/kg liveweight DA floor
- The Pig Site: carcass and slaughter basics: dressing and carcass terminology
Dressing percentages are typical ranges for Philippine slaughter conditions and vary with finish, breed, gut fill, and whether the head and skin stay on. Convert and confirm with your specific buyer before agreeing to any dressed-weight deal.
