Breeders’ Attitude To Lean Pigs Question; A Valuable Review

Northern Advocate, 23 July 1938, Page 14

Breeders’ Attitude To Lean Pigs Question; A Valuable Review

Pig Chib Section

WHII4E the tenor of the article published last week was properly expressed in the title "Back fat all important," it will be obvious to those who read it that I attempted to show that although the authorities in New Zealand consider it such, it should not bo all important. The most important, thing is the meat in the carcase. For the last few years, everyone has been preaching "the lean pig/’ and a great deal of misconception' has resulted. The average person associates the word "lean" with lack of fat. A lean man is a skinny man. When, however, we speak of a lean pig, we don’t mean a skinny pig at all, and for that reason it is very misleading indeed to speak of the lean pig. The correct word to use would be the

‘meaty pig,” or a pig that carries an abundance of lean meat as opposed to pure fat. One cannot help feeling that this confusion over the word lean lies at the root of the present system of grading on back fat alone. The grading system in force at present classes as a good pig a carcase that has no meat and very little fat, in other words, the long, rangy type of pig with a razor back. Breeders’ Dislike. Breeders don't like this type because it has no constitution. Farmers don't like it because they can’t get any finish on it. The public doesn’t like it because it has no meat. The grading system, however, places it in the top grade. On the other hand, a pig carrying a large amount of meat and correct fat at the loin or dear part can be second graded because of the slightest excess of fat at the shoulder or cheaper part, where, after all, it doesn’t matter much. These anomalies were laid bare at the bacon championship, and deserve the close attention of the authorities. The Lean Pig. It is quite time we gave up talking about the lean pig, and spoke instead about the meaty pig. As meat is muscle, a meaty pig is a strong pig, and usually is a type strong constitutionally. A strong pig can carry the length required by the trade, whereas a rangy pig cannot carry the length without impairment of constitution. There is no place either in the market or on the farm for the rangy razor-backed pig. What does a meaty pig look like? In answering this question, let us first consider the type required in baby beef or Down lambs, both of which are esteemed for their meaty qualities.

Most fanners know that in both these < cases, the square, blccky type Is corj reel. An animal with no breadth of back, where the principal meat is found, is not desired at all. The meatiness as displayed on the back extends over the rump down to the hams. In , almost any issue of the “New Zealand Farmer” weekly, one can see the type :in the stud stock advertisements, ! especially those in connection with ; Down sheep, or Black Polled cattle. j A Distinction. ' There is a distinction, however, to be made in the case of pigs. Length of side is most essential hi a pig, as the rashers of bacon are cut from this j part. Further, whereas the ribs of ' cattle and sheep are so close to the j surface that they can be felt, the rib | of a pig is covered by a layer of fat j and meat and cannot be fell. In order | that this layer of fat over the rib ; should not be excessive, the type of . pig that appears to be slab-sided 1 while wide on they back is, seemingly, I the correct type. Thus a pig oblong in cross section, lengthy, with light fore-end and well lot down and thick at the flank, would probably be the correct type for bacon production. A ■ pig with cross section like an inverted V would carry no meat, and one round j in cross section would be excessively ! fat in all probability. | Measurement Indications. I Pigs measuring up to this standard would be found in certain definite strains. Although one could spoil them by bad feeding, one could not make them by good feeding. Given the right strain, one could probably feed them a half-a-dozen different ways, and, provided the manner of feeding kept thorn in good health and growth, the ultimate result would be a flrslclass pig. in case some would like to have this point further illustrated, go again to the case of cattle. Could feeding turn a Jersey steer into the same thing as a modern Polled steer, or a Milking Shorthorn into the modern beef type being bred in Scotland for the Argentine cattle-raisers? Obviously not. The types are different. Precisely the same applies to sheep. Can we get the equivalent of the modern Down lamb by specially feeding Lincolns or Merinos? No. Sc. also with pigs, we must select certain types or strains and breed from them, discarding the others, instead of feeding them specially in the hope that they will come right. Given the correct strain,

By W. A. Beattie

you could, I imagine, feed it on milk, meal, roots, pasture and concentrates, scraps, brewers’ grains, abattoir offal, or a combination of all or any of these —you could grow it on winter feed or summer feed, you could, in other words, suit your particular conditions, and provided that pig grew without a check and was kept healthy and in clean surroundings, the strain would carry you through to success. Two Difficulties. The two difficulties are, firstly, selecting those strains, and. secondly, keeping them going. These difficulties confront all breeders of livestock, and can only be overcome by a thorough appreciation of market requirements as translated into terms of the live animal, and by a knowledge of the art of breeding true to type.