50 heads · semi-commercial
Semi-Commercial — 50 Heads, Hired Worker, Direct Feed
Fifty heads is where pig farming starts looking like a business instead of a hobby. You hire a full-time caretaker, you negotiate feed direct, you can afford biosecurity that brings mortality below 4%, and the per-head profit reflects all of that.
Open this scenario in the Profit Simulator
The numbers below are pre-filled at PSA's latest backyard price. Adjust feed price, mortality, or market price to match your area, or open it at the DA's August 2026 price .
- Capital
- about ₱639,000
- Time to market
- 5 months (155 days)
- ₱ per head
- ₱1,611 (DA) to ₱3,783 (PSA)
At 50 heads the economics shift in three ways. First, feed cost drops because you can buy direct from a B-MEG or Thunderbird dealer at ₱50-100/sack below retail; this scenario takes the cautious end, ₱1,725 against the ₱1,775 retail figure. Second, weaner sourcing improves: multiplier farms accept smaller orders from semi-commercial operators they recognise, and the price drops to ₱3,200-3,400 per 12-kg weaner. Third, biosecurity becomes affordable. A foot-dip, a small disinfection room, and an "all-in all-out" pen rotation cut mortality from the backyard 5-8% to a realistic 3-4%.
The catch is the worker. A 50-head farm needs daily attention: feeding twice a day, manure removal, water checks, weight monitoring. ₱9,000-12,000/month for a live-in caretaker in 2026 is the going rate in most provincial settings. At ₱10,000 that is ₱50,000 for a 5-month batch, and it is what separates this scenario from the 20-pig OFW one.
ADG also tends to be 5-10% higher at this scale, partly because the worker is dedicated and partly because pen density is properly managed. 0.6 kg/day to a 100-kg target is a fair assumption with commercial-hybrid weaners, putting grow-out at about 155 days. PSA's newest backyard farmgate reading is ₱172.62/kg for Jun 2026. The DA said farmgate fell to ₱150/kg in August 2026 (The Manila Times, 28 Sep 2026). The two disagree, PSA has not yet published a month after June, and I do not average them: every figure below is shown at both.
Cost breakdown
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| 50 weaners @ ₱3,300 | ₱165,000 |
| Direct-sourced feeds (₱1,725/sack) 220 kg a head at the simulator's FCR 2.5, about 4.4 sacks; dead pigs' feed included | ₱368,449 |
| Full-time caretaker (5 months × ₱10,000) | ₱50,000 |
| Vaccines, dewormer, vet retainer | ₱15,000 |
| Biosecurity (footdip, lime, disinfectant) | ₱8,000 |
| Pen depreciation (₱250k build / 5 years × ½ year) | ₱25,000 |
| Electricity & water | ₱8,000 |
| Total batch cost | ₱639,449 |
Revenue, at two selling prices (never averaged)
48 pigs × 100 kg × ₱172.62/kg = ₱828,576
PSA backyard farmgate, Jun 2026
48 pigs × 100 kg × ₱150/kg = ₱720,000
DA farmgate figure, August 2026 (The Manila Times, 28 Sep 2026)
Selling in lot to one buyer can earn a few pesos over the backyard average, but nobody publishes that premium, so this page uses the same two prices as the others. 48 pigs reach market. Against ₱639,449 of cost that is a profit of ₱189,127 at the PSA price (₱3,783 per pig started, about ₱37,825 a month) and a profit of ₱80,551 at the DA's (₱1,611 per pig).
What this leaves out
- ⚠ The per-head profit ranges quoted in DA promotional materials usually assume zero labour cost. Honest semi-commercial math costs in the caretaker, and you should too.
- ⚠ A 4% mortality assumption needs real biosecurity. Without footdips, vaccine compliance, and pen rotation, you will see backyard-level losses (8-12%) even at this scale.
- ⚠ Semi-commercial is the awkward middle: too big to manage yourself, too small to absorb a single ASF case the way a 500-head farm can. Have an emergency feed budget for at least 2 weeks of held inventory if a movement ban hits.
Bisaya / Cebuano
Para sa mga mag-uuma
- Para sa 50 ka baboy nga semi-commercial, ang kapital sa usa ka batch mga ₱639,000.
- Kung tarong ang biosecurity ug 4% lang ang mamatay, 48 ka baboy ang mabaligya. Sa ₱172.62/kg (PSA), ganansya nga ₱189,127 sa mga 5 ka bulan, mga ₱3,783 matag baboy. Sa ₱150/kg (DA, Agosto 2026), ganansya nga ₱80,551.
- Ang kalainan sa backyard: kinahanglan og full-time caretaker (₱10,000 matag bulan), tarong nga foot-dip, ug direkta nga pagpalit og pakaon. Kung dili nimo mahimo ang tulo, magpabilin ka lang sa backyard scale.
Try your own numbers
The Profit Simulator opens pre-loaded with this scenario.