Feed is the biggest expense in raising pigs. Not housing, not meds, not labor. Feed. The DA and PIDS both put it at 57-70% of total production cost, and for backyard raisers buying commercial pellets by the sack, it can hit 80%.
That means your margins live or die on two numbers: what you pay per kilo of feed, and how efficiently your pigs convert it. Everything else is noise.
Here are verified 2026 prices, brand-by-brand comparisons, and the math behind mixing your own feed versus buying commercial.
What a Single Pig Actually Costs to Feed
A pig raised from weaning (~8 kg) to market weight (90-100 kg) eats roughly 250-300 kg of feed over 4.5 to 5.5 months. At current commercial prices, that's PHP 9,000 to PHP 12,000 in feed alone per head.
But that number swings wildly depending on your FCR. The feed conversion ratio measures how many kilos of feed produce one kilo of liveweight gain. The DA's Hog Industry Roadmap pegged the national average FCR at 3.19 in 2020, with a target of 2.27 by 2026. Most backyard operations land somewhere around 3.0-3.5.
Here's what that means in pesos:
| FCR | Feed Cost/kg | Cost per kg of Gain | Feed Cost for 85 kg Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 (commercial best) | PHP 36 | PHP 90 | PHP 7,650 |
| 3.0 (good backyard) | PHP 36 | PHP 108 | PHP 9,180 |
| 3.5 (typical backyard) | PHP 36 | PHP 126 | PHP 10,710 |
The difference between an FCR of 2.5 and 3.5 is PHP 3,060 per head. On 20 pigs, that's over PHP 61,000 per batch. Sus, that's not a rounding error.
Every 0.1 improvement in FCR saves roughly PHP 300-500 per head. The cheapest way to improve FCR isn't better feed, it's better management: consistent feeding times, clean water, proper ventilation, and timely deworming. Use the FCR calculator to track your own numbers.
2026 Commercial Feed Prices by Brand
Prices vary by region and distributor, but these are verified retail prices from online and in-store listings as of early 2026:
| Brand | Starter (50 kg) | Grower (50 kg) | Finisher (50 kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suregrow | PHP 1,895 | PHP 1,803 | PHP 1,747 |
| VIEPro Premium | PHP 2,010 | PHP 1,910 | PHP 1,877 |
| B-MEG Premium | ~PHP 2,000-2,380 | ~PHP 1,900-2,200 | ~PHP 1,800-2,100 |
| Vitarich | ~PHP 1,800-2,000 | ~PHP 1,700-1,900 | ~PHP 1,650-1,800 |
B-MEG's range is wide because Lazada and Shopee prices include shipping, which inflates the number. In-store or from a local distributor, B-MEG typically runs close to VIEPro. If you're in Bulacan or Pampanga near the manufacturing hubs, you'll get the low end. In Visayas or Mindanao, add PHP 50-150 per sack for freight.
One thing most guides won't tell you: "economy" or store-brand feeds that cost 10-15% less per bag often have lower crude protein and inconsistent quality. You save on the bag price but your FCR gets worse, and the pig takes longer to finish. In most cases, it's a wash or worse. We've seen this enough times that we'd rather pay for a known brand than gamble on a cheaper one.
Raw Ingredient Prices (for Self-Mixers)
If you mix your own feeds, here's what ingredients cost as of early 2026:
| Ingredient | Price/kg | CP% | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow corn (ground) | PHP 20-24 | 8-9% | Cheapest Oct-Jan (harvest). PSA farmgate: PHP 23.42/kg |
| Rice bran (darak) | PHP 20-45 | 12-13% | Quality matters hugely. Fresh from the mill, not stored or mixed with husk |
| Soybean meal | PHP 27-30 | 44-48% | 100% imported. PH imports 3.35M MT/year. Price tracks USD |
| Copra meal | PHP 13-17 | 20-22% | PCA data. High fiber, limit to 10-20% of ration |
| Fish meal (local) | PHP 35-50 | 55-60% | Great palatability but expensive and sometimes rancid |
| Premix (vitamins/minerals) | PHP 80-100 | — | Non-negotiable. Don't skip this |
A big warning on darak: the price spread (PHP 20-45/kg) isn't just regional variation. It's quality. D1 grade fresh from the rice mill is a different product from the stored, sometimes adulterated stuff that sits in warehouses. If your darak smells rancid or looks gray instead of tan, walk away. Bad darak will tank your FCR and can cause digestive issues.
Sample Grower Ration (16% CP Target)
| Ingredient | % in Mix | Cost/kg | Cost per kg of Feed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground yellow corn | 50% | PHP 22 | PHP 11.00 |
| Rice bran (darak, D1) | 20% | PHP 25 | PHP 5.00 |
| Soybean meal | 16% | PHP 28 | PHP 4.48 |
| Copra meal | 10% | PHP 15 | PHP 1.50 |
| Premix/vitamins/minerals | 2% | PHP 90 | PHP 1.80 |
| Salt + limestone | 2% | PHP 12 | PHP 0.24 |
| Total | 100% | PHP 24.02 |
At PHP 24/kg versus commercial grower at PHP 34-38/kg, that's PHP 10-14 per kilo savings. A grower-phase pig eats 80-120 kg of feed, so that's PHP 800-1,680 saved per head during grower phase alone. Pretty significant.
But self-mixing has real costs you need to account for: a hammer mill (PHP 15,000-35,000), storage bins, your time (mixing takes 1-2 hours per batch), and the risk of getting the formulation wrong. If you're running fewer than 10 heads, the numbers often don't justify the equipment. At 20+ heads per batch, it starts to make sense. Run it through the profit simulator with your actual prices.
Why Philippine Feed Is Expensive (and What You Can Do About It)
The Philippines has some of the highest feed costs in Asia. A PIDS benchmarking study found that Philippine wholesale corn runs USD 0.42-0.44/kg, compared to USD 0.19-0.24/kg in Thailand and USD 0.22-0.29/kg in Vietnam. Corn tariffs of 35-50% are a big part of the gap. Soybean meal is entirely imported, with only one crushing facility in the country.
That structural disadvantage is why the DA and PCAARRD promote alternative protein sources like azolla, moringa leaf meal, and black soldier fly larvae. None of these replace soybean meal at scale yet. But blending them at 5-10% inclusion can shave PHP 1-2/kg off your ration cost without hurting performance.
Strategies That Actually Save Money
Buy in volume or join a cooperative. Pallet or truckload pricing cuts 5-10% off per-bag cost. Farmer cooperatives in Tarlac and Central Luzon pool orders from 10-20 small farms to negotiate directly with manufacturers. Even informal groups of 3-4 neighbors splitting a truckload helps.
Time your corn and darak purchases. Corn is cheapest October through January (main harvest). Darak supply peaks during milling season. Buy 2-3 months ahead when prices dip, store it properly in sealed containers off the ground, and you'll save 10-15% on those ingredients.
Fix your management before switching feeds. This is the one most farmers get backwards. They chase cheaper feed when they'd save more by improving FCR. A consistent feeding schedule (same times daily, measured portions), clean water available 24/7, good pen ventilation, and timely deworming can drop your FCR by 0.3-0.5 points. That's worth more per head than any feed discount.
Use phase feeding, not just starter and finisher. Many backyard raisers use two feeds: starter until 25 kg, then one grower/finisher mix until market. Using three or four stages (pre-starter, starter, grower, finisher) avoids wasting expensive high-protein feed on finishing pigs that don't need it. The feed calculator shows how phase feeding changes your total cost.
Consider wet feeding. Research from CLSU and UPLB shows fermented liquid feed (rice bran + copra meal + water + fermentation starter) can improve digestibility by 5-8%. That effectively lowers FCR without changing ingredient costs. It's more labor and you need good hygiene, but honestly, the farmers we know who stuck with it don't go back.
For a deeper look at low-cost feeding, see cheapest way to feed pigs in the Philippines and alternative feeding systems.
Breed Choice Changes Your Feed Math
Your choice of native versus commercial pig genetics changes everything about feed economics. Here's the honest comparison:
| Factor | Commercial Cross | Native Pig |
|---|---|---|
| Days to market | 150-170 | 240-360 |
| Market weight | 90-100 kg | 40-60 kg |
| FCR (backyard) | 3.0-3.5 | 4.0-5.0+ |
| Feed protein needed | 16-18% CP | 12-14% CP |
| Total feed cost/head | PHP 9,000-12,000 | PHP 5,000-8,000 |
| Feed cost/kg gain | PHP 100-130 | PHP 120-160 |
Native pigs eat cheaper feed but convert it less efficiently. Their total feed bill is lower because they're sold at a lighter weight. But per kilo of gain, commercial crosses win on feed efficiency. The tradeoff is that native pigs sell at a premium for lechon (especially in Cebu and the Visayas), tolerate heat and cheaper ingredients better, and don't need the same level of housing.
The Number That Matters Most
Forget feed price per bag. The number that actually determines your profit is cost per kilo of liveweight gain. Here's why:
A PHP 34/kg feed (Suregrow Grower) with an FCR of 2.8 costs you PHP 95.20 per kg of gain. A PHP 38/kg feed (VIEPro Premium Grower) with an FCR of 2.5 costs PHP 95.00 per kg of gain. Halos pareho lang. The more expensive feed that converts better costs the same per kilo of actual pig growth.
Track your own FCR. Weigh your pigs every two weeks, record every sack of feed, and divide total feed consumed by total weight gained. You can't manage what you don't measure, and most backyard raisers have never calculated their actual FCR. The FCR calculator makes this easy.
The DA set a floor price of PHP 210/kg for live hogs in November 2025, because many farmers' production costs were running PHP 165-180/kg. If your feed cost per kg of gain is above PHP 130, your margins are paper-thin at current farmgate prices. Know your break-even. Use the break-even calculator.
Tools
- Break-even Calculator: find the minimum farmgate price to cover your costs
- Feed Calculator: estimate feed consumption and cost by growth phase
- Profit Simulator: model batch economics with your specific feed prices
- FCR Calculator: track your actual feed conversion ratio
Sources
- PIDS: Philippines among highest-cost pork producers in Asia (BusinessWorld, Nov 2025)
- DA sets live hog floor price at PHP 210/kg (PNA, Nov 2025)
- High feed costs keep Philippine pork industry uncompetitive (PorciNews)
- PSA Corn Farmgate Prices (Tridge/PSA data)
- Philippines soybean meal imports forecast (Philstar, Mar 2025)
- PCA Copra/Copra Meal Pricing (Philippine Coconut Authority)
- USDA FAS Manila: Livestock and Products Annual
- DOST-PCAARRD Swine Industry Strategic Plan
Bisaya / Cebuano
