New Grading Regulations For Bacon Pigs

Northern Advocate, 16 February 1938, Page 6

New Grading Regulations For Bacon Pigs

SPECIAL meeting of the Northland District Pig Council was held in Whangarei last night, attended by Mr. M. J. Scott. Superintendent of the % pjg Industry, and Mr. H. M. Peirson. extension officer in pig husbandry, |l for the purpose of discussing the new grading regulations for bacon pigs. Ip ; ; The chairman mentioned tha-; the bone of contention between the council ll and -tiip department had been the abandonment of length in the new reguand Mr. Scott had been invited to attend and explain to the council fm reasons actuating the department’s decision. * • _

The Position Accepted

Scott said that as the regulations Jr had now been gazetted, no useful pur®ppie could be served by discussing question, but he commented that ||*regulations had been decided upon feji |ohsultation with the trade, which |l '.required some definite average of & Ifrjfefr, .tfecond and third quality be-f.'-'torq. they could consider the payment premium, and that as the Canadstandard for bacon was the only standard known on'.the Lon- ■ doit market, it behoved New Zealand !& • to'"accept tftis as a basis for the new if* reply to a question, Mr, Scott p!< sail that the new regulations would not Up the meantime increase the gross p : jev<mue of the pig produce!', but that llfit was hoped that when the new showed ' results of premium payment on the London market, this premium would no doubt be passed on to the farmer. Ife ■ ' v-a- ; ■ Goodwill in London It was essential at the outset, he ' said, to build up goodwill on the Lon- ’■ don market, and taking all factors into ‘ consideration, the department had adopted the standard of grading; to which objection had been taken by feWi Northland District Pig Council. *, Mfr, Scott also stated that there was no period under which the ndw , regulations should operate, but that ? if sufficient evidence was submitted to I; the; National Council, that the incluP ' glCHit of length was considered to be of to the producer, no doubt jp'lhe:.regulations could be amended. Mr. Scott’s explanation, the Efchairman said that the council extendjfeed it* thanks to the supervisor for his |v- attendance, and added that in putting its viewpoint there had been iplo. rancour or anything other than a desire to do the best for the producer. m The council would work wholehearted- \ - ly,fgc -the desired result under the f net* grading regulations, which, after | thf seemed to be the only at the present time. Loin and Back Fat ||v. the present gazetted bacon pigs, standards of quality iktiriipe determined by'loin fat and back p jtetif’ said - Mr, Scott, in. an interview || With the “Northern Advocate” this ll'/v *?fhe original intention was to in|:';:plUde length in the standard, but loin fat was. substituted for this. This I change, was made to ensure facilities |&> ! the trade of paying premiums for | quality pigs since the success of |pgrading depends almost entirely on $ the payment, of these premiums. II When grading was first discussed in April Of last year the most important 'consideration was the payment of price differences' for quality pigs. It [V w«* first suggested that these should { be paid by means of a subsidy from |p the Government, but on account of ||f the volume, of the pig trade and past | experience with subsidies, this method f- was discarded. The second suggestion 5 that premiums should be paid fr from, a levy on all pigs, but this was £ not considered fair to the producer of | . pork, The third suggestion was , that H premiums should be paid by the trade. - provided a workable basis could be ff.lound. Tliis basis entailed knowing

pigs. If it could be shown that in any export works the average percentages of No. I’s was say, 35 per cent., it would be possible for the works to pay out on that basis over the whole year. “During October, November and December, the measurements of about 70,030 baconers w T ere supplied to Lhe department by the trade, and it was found that on any standards adopted that the percentage break-up varied from works to works from as much as 20 to 70 per cent, on No. I’s. “This being so, it was quite impossible for any works to pay out on a New Zealand or works average. The only satisfactory method of paying premiums is one based on actual realisations in the Old Country, and this being so, our grading must be accepted in the Old Country without question.

Canadian Standard Accepted

“The established acceptable grading standards for bacon are the Canadian, and these are based on jtoin and back fat measurements. If our pigs are so graded in New Zealand that the grading is unquestioned in the Old Country, the premiums realised there can be paid to the producer here irrespective of what percentage of premium pigs goes through any works or comes from any producer. “It is fplt that the standards as now Gazetted are achieving this purpose, and the trade have announced their intention of paying a id differential between different qualities right from the inception of grading. The disregard of length is not as real as it seems, for there is a well-established relationship between pigs that are long and thin on the back, and the farmer who wants pigs to grade ensures this happening by selecting long pigs. He can achieve it by relatively starving short pigs over the last month, but this process looks like adding an abuse to one already existing. He can see length: it is his job to select for it. “Those who have no faith in the ability of their pigs to grade may be inclined to accept ungraded prices in the sty. In doing so they are giving an advantage to the buyer who has to purchase pigs against schedule prices for his firm, and cannot afford to pay more than they would realise if graded. The difference usually includes the buyer’s individual profit. Selling in the sty defeats the object of grading as the farmer gets no information about his pigs and in the absence of information has nothing to guide him for the future.-

“The department appreciates the interest taken by the Northland council in grading, and producers can be assured that their interests are not being disregarded by this active and energetic body.”

what the percentages of No l’s, No. 2*3 ■: and No. 3’s there were in our bacon