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The University of Minnesota Extension swine team has released a video on how to butcher a pig for home use.

“With COVID-19 causing reduced operations at many pork processing facilities, pig farmers are experiencing a bottleneck of pigs on farms causing them to look for alternative market options,” said Sarah Schieck Boelke, University of Minnesota Extension swine educator.

One option is for a farmer to sell a live pig directly to a consumer.

“The consumer typically would book an appointment with a local small scale meat processor in Minnesota to get the pig butchered, but the problem,” said Schieck Boelke, “is many small scale meat processors are booked out for months. With no space available at a local processor and a pig that is ready for butchering, many people are choosing to butcher the pig themselves.”

With few Extension resources available on how to butcher a pig for home use, Schieck Boelke and her colleagues Ryan Cox, Dallas Dornink and Lee Johnston created a video on how to butcher a pig for home use, including human safety, pig welfare and food safety discussions.

The video along with additional resources can be found on the University of Minnesota Extension swine blog at z.umn.edu/HowToButcherPig.

Further questions can be answered by contacting Schieck Boelke at schi0466@umn.edu.

For more information on swine from the University of Minnesota Extension: www.extension.umn.edu/swine.