Converting Discarded Pork Fat into a Value-Added Moisturizer to Increase Farm Profitability and Reduce Animal Waste

Commodities

• Animal Products: other

Practices

• Energy: byproduct utilization
• Farm Business Management: feasibility study, market study, value added
• Sustainable Communities: food loss and waste recovery/reduction

This project evaluates whether pork fat that is typically discarded can be reclaimed and converted into a value-added moisturizer that improves farm profitability, reduces waste, and strengthens whole-animal utilization for small regenerative livestock farms. Although consumer interest in animal-fat skincare is increasing, there is little farmer-focused research on scalable rendering methods, fatty-acid characteristics, packaging acceptance, or market feasibility, particularly whether consumers will purchase such products directly from farms.

The project has four objectives: (1) develop a standardized, farmer-friendly rendering and moisturizer production workflow, including fatty-acid analysis comparing fat from different farm systems; (2) quantify added revenue per pig, labor needs, and cost of production to evaluate economic feasibility; (3) measure waste reduction by tracking fat reclaimed at Wildom Farm and two partner farms; and (4) assess consumer acceptance by testing two packaging approaches, one clearly labeled as lard-based and one more neutral, while evaluating whether regenerative verification increases trust and willingness to pay.

Activities include documenting the current roaster method, implementing a scaled rendering setup, conducting fatty-acid analysis, producing moisturizer batches, and comparing stability, yield, labor, and cost across methods. Market feasibility will be assessed through structured consumer feedback and brief surveys of partner farms and processors about fat return and disposal practices.

Outreach will include a publicly accessible workflow guide, cost worksheet, instructional videos, a farmer-focused field demonstration, and a presentation at a regional sustainable agriculture conference. All materials will be non-branded and open-source so other farms can evaluate feasibility and waste-reduction potential at their own scale.

Objective 1:
Develop and refine a standardized, farmer-friendly workflow for reclaiming pork fat and producing a stable, safe, lard-based moisturizer using equipment and methods that can scale beyond small batch rendering. Compare fatty-acid profiles from different pork fat sources to evaluate how fat characteristics influence rendering efficiency, product stability, and performance.

Objective 2:
Quantify changes in farm profitability by measuring added revenue per pig, cost of production, labor inputs, and net margin generated by converting pork fat into moisturizer.

Objective 3:
Measure waste reduction by tracking pounds of pork fat reclaimed per pig, the proportion of fat diverted from landfill or disposal, and overall improvement in whole-animal utilization.

Objective 4:
Evaluate consumer acceptance, packaging effectiveness, and market feasibility by testing two packaging approaches, one that clearly identifies the moisturizer as lard-based and one that uses a more neutral presentation, and by incorporating optional regenerative verification (EOV or Land to Market) to assess whether ecological certification influences consumer comfort, trust, and willingness.