FARM AND STATION

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIX, Issue 305, 11 December 1929, Page 11

FARM AND STATION

The Pig Export Trade Great Opportunity for New Zealand Many Advantages Not Exploited

(BY

"SUNDOWNER.”)

(Written for the Tribune All Rights Reserved.) The recently published twelfth report of the Imperial Economic Committee dealing with “Pigs and Pig Products” should prove of considerable interest to those dairy farmers in New Zealand who are attempting to develop the productiveness of their land to the utmost by using their skim milk to rear pigs for export. “For export” is emphasized, because the possibilities of pork and bacon production in New Zealand, where the combined consumption of pork and bacon only amounts to 181 b. per head per annum compared with 281bs. per head in the United Kingdom and equal if not greater quantity in the United States and Canada, it is obvious that our limited ' population could not absorb a hundredth part of the pig . products which we could produce. The development of a regular export trade is essential it pork production as a profitable branch of dairy farming is to be undertaken, but while we have some wonderful advantages in the way of suitable climate, abundance of skim milk on those farms which supply butter factories, an intelligent and energetic farming community, and a reasonably good type of pig as breeding stock, we are many thousands of miles from our market, necessitating the carriage of our pork in a frozen condition, and we lack the organisation which has enabled the Danes and other Continental producers to dominate the market of Great Britain.

PREFERENCE FOR EMPIRE PRODUCE. Authorities with their fingers on the pulse of demand and supply at Home assert that there is a growing readiness on the part of the British consumer, to purchase Empire produce in preference to that coming forward from foreign countries. Great Britain, our chief market, cannot possibly produce all the pig products which she requires, as is evidenced by the fact that in 1928 she imported over 12 million cwts., worth over £55, 000,000, ninety-three per cent, coming from foreign countries, this quantity being 50 per cent, more than the pre-war imports. We therefore have both unlimited de mand and preference for our pork, but to develop this market profitably we must supply a uniformly good article of the quality required, regularly, and must overcome the difficulty of deterioration in. transport. Scientists both here and in England ar» at present busy with the latter problem and there is little doubt that in the near future this will be solved satisfactorily, in any case it is outside the dairyfarmers’ realm, his business being to produce a satisfactory quantity and quality of pork. INCREASING OUR QUALITY. Dealing first with the possibility of increasing our “quantity” of pig products It has been discovered in those countries, such as Denmark, which specialise in pig production that where separated milk and barley form the basis of the ration this combination is especially suited for the production of lean carcases of the type now so much in demand in the United Kingdom. We in New Zealand have an almost unlimited and growing supply of separated milk, and there are very few dis tricts where barley cannot be grown or procured comparatively cheaply. For the heavier and fatter type of bacon pig, maize and separated milk cannot be surpassed as a ration. In fact over two-fifths of the 51 million pigs in the United States in 1926 were located in the five States forming the centre of the maize belt. Maize grows to perfection in this Dominion, and indeed thrives best in hiany of the present dairying areas. We therefore have the necessary foodstuffs for producing heavy or light pigs, as desired by the market — the heavy for the United States and Northern England. and the light for Southern England. And yet, with these ex ceptional advantages, we keep only 4 pigs per 10 dairy cows, compared with 24| pigs for every 10 cows in Denmark. It would appear that we certainly have room for more pigs on our dairy farms. THE QUALITY REQUIRED. In considering quality, we must first study the requirements of our chief market, the United Kingdom. On this point the report says “Carcases for pork, bacon and ham trade should conform to the following specifications The carcase must be that of a properly fed castrated male or virgin female pig. the predominating colour being white. The middle portion ♦’ '''

from the first rib to the aitch bone must be long, the fore-end must be light with a light head, neck and collar Snd the gammon end well developed. The ribs must be well sprung, the line of the back must be slightly arched Erom head to tail and not dished or humped over the shoulder. The neck must be of medium length and devoid of crest The shoulders must be smooth, slightly rounded from side to side over the top and very compact. The back fat should be even, without pronounced thicken ing over the shoulder and it should taper slightly from the shoulder to the gammon, and should fall within the following measurements at the shoulder Dead weight Depth of of carease. back fpt.

THE “LARGE WHITE” ADVOCATED. After giving some further details of the desirable features of an ideal carcase the report says: "The predominance of the purebred Large White boar as the sire of the best commercial stock both in this country and those supplying the home market is unquestioned. There is no evidence either at home or abtoad to show that boars of any other breed have been so widely adopted for the purpose of producing commercial pigs to suit the requirements of the English bacon and pork markets and of providing producers with hardy, quickly maturing stock. It is important, however, to stress the necessity of adherence to Large White boars of the correct type of pronounced character.’ l In the section dealing with New Zealand it is stated that we have probably greater possibilities than any other country for the development of a pig industry, and that the present predominating breed, the Berkshire, crossed with the Large White offers an excellent cross in which the black colour of the Berkshire is recessive. DEMAND FOR HAM AND BACON. At the present time the great demand in Britain is for mild bacon and ham, the quantity of this consumed being about twenty times as much as the amount of fresh or frozen pork. We are at present, however, confronted with the problem of transport of this class of product, and meantime must content ourselves with the trade we are developing in frozen porkers' of from 60 to 801 b. dead weight which are meeting with a keen demand by the London trade. “It is claimed,” says the report, “that provided the curers understand how to handle frozen pigs, New Zealand frozen baconers can be made into good bacon and can be sold on the market at the same price as average Dutch bacon. The evidence which we have taken tends on the whole to support this claim.” It is evident, therefore, that the fact of our porkers and baconers having to be transported in a frozen state need not debar us from even now catering for the.

more profitable bacon and ham trade, provided the curing is done in England and not here. PAST DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE POSSIBILITIES. Our pig trade has certainly grown fairly rapidly of late years, for whereas in 1923 we exported only 5,000 carcases, this has increased until in 1927-28 we sent 146,000 overseas; still this is but a fraction of what we might do with the advantages which we enjoy and with the favourable reception which our pork receives now on the London market our dairy farmers should concentrate on the development of this profitable business. At the present time New Zea land pork usually sells at about 2d per lb. wholesale below fresh pork on the London market, but as the quality, regular supply, and methods of defrosting are developed, there is no reason why this' difference in price should not be largely, if not wholly eliminated. There is much more that might be written regarding the establish ment of co-operative pork fac tories, “price-cycles” and other matters of interest connected with this industry, but space forbids their present discussion here-

60—1001b. Up to .1 inch 100—1301b. .... J inch to ’3 inch 130—1601b. .... 5 inch to li inch 160—1801b. .... H inch to H inch 180—2101b. .... li inch to 2 inch