THE PIG INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 196, 18 July 1935, Page 5

THE PIG INDUSTRY.

v FACTS TO BE FACED. (By “Observer.”) Every producer of pig flesh must by this tiino he well acquainted with the fact that New Zealand is required lo produce sufficient pigs to satisfy tho tonnago provided for in the agreement made with our London market. Ignorance of the fact cannot reasonably furnish an excuse. in the event of the amount allowed being short supplied, because the necessity for the supply of baconers for export has been prominently made public in the Press for many months past. To ignore the fact would he suicidal lo the future welfare and expansion of (he industry, but it is improbable that anv fanner would ho guilty of intentionally ignoring the issue by continuing to sell porkers where it was humanly possible to get baconers off tho farm. It has been suggested that instead of baconers wo could produce porkers more easily, and that owing to the suitability of dairying conditions in Now Zealand for the production of porkers, an increase in the amount of pork provided for, and a decrease in the amount of bacon, would bo "lore agreeable to tho farmer. Unfortunately, we are the vendors and net the purchasers, and it seems inevitable that for many years to come New Zealand will, as far as pig flesh is concerned, find itself in the former category. During the past four years England nas increased her cow population by a quarter of a million, or 62,509 cows annually, and it is reasonable to assume that, her pig industry has developed accordingly. Naturally, after having been accustomed to producing pigs cheaply, that is without purchasing food for them, the farmer is reluctant to pay out money to feed his pigs; but the future of the industry is too important in tho eyes of New Zealand dairy farmers to be prejudiced through apathy or lack of effort. To entirely fulfil the quota will require unabated enthusiasm on every fanner’s part intil (lie end of the year, when the returns will reveal whether they have been successful or not. Money spent in feeding will pay in the long run, although expenditure may he novel to the New Zealand dairy fanner.