What percentage would you estimate, by weight, of a pig is used for human food?
How about a cow?
Does 70% sound about right?

Hanging carcass weight is around 70-75% of live weight. You will lose a small percent of the carcass weight preparing for retail.

in a hog everything but the squeal...

in a Cow everything but the moo...

in reality everything but teeth, and Im not real sure about the teeth..

75 or so % off the hoof.

You will lose about 3% in the cutting process.

Does this count the stuff they use for Jell-o and hot dogs?  

Quoted: What percentage would you estimate, by weight, of a pig is used for human food? How about a cow? Does 70% sound about right?

less than 50%.

You have to take the guts, hide, head, bones all off the weight.

The guts are about 1/3 of the live weight by themselves.

Quoted: Quoted: What percentage would you estimate, by weight, of a pig is used for human food? How about a cow? Does 70% sound about right? less than 50%. You have to take the guts, hide, head, bones all off the weight. The guts are about 1/3 of the live weight by themselves.

i dont know...a LOT of guts are used

cow guts are used in proceed foods, such as salami, balogani, weenies, etc

pig guts are also used in processed foods, such as the above, and souse ("hog head" cheese/souse...yes, they really do use the brains of pigs in it), potted meat, viennies, liver cheese (there is no cheese), etc
skins are made into cracklins; hides for clothes/leather works; hooves, bone, etc into dogfood/other pet foods (lots of calcium)

as to bones, well a lot of bones w/ scraps of meat, pigs feet, etc are sold on markets (specifically, some culture groups)

so i'd say at least 99% of pigs, ~95% for cows is used overall; i'd say at least 75% for human food consumption, rest for consumer products of sorts

The question was addressed to hunters farmers and ranchers.....not meat locker operators.

I doubt many hunters use over 50% of the weight of any animal they kill.

Quoted: The question was addressed to hunters farmers and ranchers.....not meat locker operators. I doubt many hunters use over 50% of the weight of any animal they kill.

well i hunt, but i dont hunt pigs (that are in the market) or any cows that i know of...so i guess the question should be more addressed to "butchers and food processors (and companies/plants)" of pigs and cows

h/w, i would agree that "I doubt many hunters use over 50% of the weight of any animal they kill."...i'd definitly say that most do use less than 50% of the dove, duck, deer, squirrle, rabbits, turkeys, etc here

heck, i've never heard of any domesticated cow or pig (non wild) hunts around, so i'd guess that hunters wouldnt know any more info on the origional quesiton that a "meat locker operator" would know about the percentages of "cow" and "pig" used for human food

Quoted: Quoted: The question was addressed to hunters farmers and ranchers.....not meat locker operators. I doubt many hunters use over 50% of the weight of any animal they kill. well i hunt, but i dont hunt pigs (that are in the market) or any cows that i know of...so i guess the question should be more addressed to "butchers and food processors (and companies/plants)" of pigs and cows h/w, i would agree that "I doubt many hunters use over 50% of the weight of any animal they kill."...i'd definitly say that most do use less than 50% of the dove, duck, deer, squirrle, rabbits, turkeys, etc here heck, i've never heard of any domesticated cow or pig (non wild) hunts around, so i'd guess that hunters wouldnt know any more info on the origional quesiton that a "meat locker operator" would know

I kill more pigs than any other animal....

YMMV.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The question was addressed to hunters farmers and ranchers.....not meat locker operators. I doubt many hunters use over 50% of the weight of any animal they kill. well i hunt, but i dont hunt pigs (that are in the market) or any cows that i know of...so i guess the question should be more addressed to "butchers and food processors (and companies/plants)" of pigs and cows h/w, i would agree that "I doubt many hunters use over 50% of the weight of any animal they kill."...i'd definitly say that most do use less than 50% of the dove, duck, deer, squirrle, rabbits, turkeys, etc here heck, i've never heard of any domesticated cow or pig (non wild) hunts around, so i'd guess that hunters wouldnt know any more info on the origional quesiton that a "meat locker operator" would know I kill more pigs than any other animal.... YMMV.

ah, i see--at least yall got good hog hunting over in TX...i was offered a student worker job here at MSU to hunt wild pigs (for testing and pest control, but we get to keep the meat), but it fell through b/c the position was denied due to lack of funding in the dept

heck though, w/ MS's deer population (and pig pop rising) way out of control, we could use more hunters out there during season

FWIW though, (back to the topic), we could really use someone who takes these figures as i'm interested in the rough percentages of how much commercial cow/pig is used for human consumption, esp since so many "save the world"/"enviromentalists" blame SO much of global warming on animal (cows esp) flatulance and methane gas killing the earth...tag for some official #s

Quoted: The question was addressed to hunters farmers and ranchers.....not meat locker operators. I doubt many hunters use over 50% of the weight of any animal they kill.

i grew up in around a custom kill shop. deer, pig and beef.
a deer will net you 40% on a good day for a oklahoma/texas whitetail. it might creep up to 50% if your careful with your shot and you want sausage and ground made.

we could get 60% on a standard beef steer. thats actual edible meat. not guts or organs. meat that you can package.

pigs..
UUhhhh i'd say close to 80%.
i really like my pork rinds. yeahhhhhhh, and thats saving intestine for sausages casings.

you would be amazed at how much a wet hide weighs..
bones..head..thats alot of weight too.

Read the label on a can of potted meat.  That says it all.

I used to like potted meat and crackers... until I read the label.  Never ate it again.

Quoted: The question was addressed to hunters farmers and ranchers.....not meat locker operators. I doubt many hunters use over 50% of the weight of any animal they kill.

I would say out of a 130 lb buck I can get 30 lbs of meat.  I debone mine and save most of the 'burg' meat for stew meat.