‘Pig Producers Have Low Status’

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31680, 16 May 1968, Page 14

‘Pig Producers Have Low Status’

The status of the pig producer was probably the lowest of any producer in the fanning community, the chairman of the New Zealand Pig Producers’ Council said at the opening of a conference for pig farmers at Lincoln College yesterday.

“There are not many pig producers who are proud to admit that they are pig producers,” he said. “There should be a move to a better status for the pig industry as a whole.

examined to see where they could be cut he said. There was nothing the producer could do about the price, but there was plenty that could be done to save costs. The cost of producing a weaner could determine the profit of the enterprise; stock needed some sort of backing in food conversion. Pigs needed a balanced diet to give the best return; buildings to house them had to be simplified, and several points in the control of diseases would have to be checked. The grading of meat was too restrictive and there were many anomalies that had to be removed. In an intergrated marketing plan the trade would realise the problem of the farmer and the two could work to further the value of the product.

“It is not recognised sufficiently and there should be a better relationship between producers and the trade until some type of marketing plan is established.”

Mr Oliver was talking on “Where the pig industry is heading.” The breeder in the future had to consider whether production would be better if large firms went into the production of pork and bacon as in Australia, he said. Costs would have to be