SAME GRADING SYSTEM FOR PIGS ADVOCATED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22940, 7 May 1949, Page 4

SAME GRADING SYSTEM FOR PIGS ADVOCATED

“That porkers should be brought under the same grading standard principles as baconers” was a motion passed by the Tairawhiti District Pig Council at its annual meeting yesterday. The resolution will be forwarded to the National Pig Industry Council for its consideration. Mr. Ivan H. Owtram, extensions officer in pig husbandry in the Department of Agriculture, gave a progress report of the trials being conducted this season of the proposed revised grading system drawn up by the Bacon Standards Committee at the request of the National Pig Industry Council. The three objectives of grading were outlined by Mr. Owtram. They were: (a) To sort pigs into various grades according to the requirements of the main markets. To achieve a maximum net return for the carcases of the producer from the wholesale buyer. (b) To form a basis for the payment of differentials to producers of the grades produced and so provide an incentive of the desired quality. (c) To give producers as much information as possible as to how his pigs are graded in order that he can take the necessary steps to improve his output.

The necessary basis of a satisfactory grading system, he said, was that a proper grading standard be applied to all pigs killed, porkers and baconers, export and the local market. Grading must be under efficient supervision and all producers must receive a copy of the grading certificate for their pigs, he said. *