Wider Scope In Bacon Competition

Northern Advocate, 27 June 1939, Page 11

Wider Scope In Bacon Competition

DR. MC MEEK AN WANTS

“There is only one definition of quality in any form of primary produce —quality is what the consumer will pay for.” stated Dr.. C. P. McMeekan, one of the judges In the National Bacon Pig Championship, in a special interview granted to the “Northern Advocate.”

Recognised as a world authority on the pig. Dr. McMeekan is a senior lecturer at Massey College, to which he returned to-day. “This is true of baion no less than of any other form of cur farm exports,” he continued. “Since the pig is produced only for the meat it yields, the quality of the carcase is of fundamental importance if our bacon exports are to satisfy the consumer. “Since, however, a pig must not only measure up to consumer requirements, but also must measure up to the requirements of the farmer as a producer, other qualities in our pig stock besides carcase quality must be borne, in mind in evolving the most efficient type of pig stock. Wider Scope Suggested. Carcase competitions of the type organised by the Whangarei A. and P. Association are of inestimable value as a means of improving carcase quality. Still further value, however, would be obtained from this competition if it were designed to embrace those other qualities of the pig of importance to the man who has to produce it—qualities such as prolificacy (number of litter), milking capacity of sows as measured by weights of litter at

three and eight weeks; economy of live-weight gain, as measured by the amount of food required to produce a pound of bacon; rapidity of growth as important in effecting feed economy and reducing overhead costs by increasing turnover. “It is possible to devise competitions which take these important farm factors into account, as well as factors of carcase quality. “It is little use producing a pig that has a suitable carcase if the type of animal concerned is an unprofitable one from the farmer’s point of view. “On the other hand, it is no use sticking to'a ‘type of pig which suits the farmer if it does not produce a good carcase.

“A competition organised on this wider basis has been in operation in the Manawatu for the last, five years.

A Stepping Stone

“In respect of the general value of all competitions of this type, it is my opinion that, while they are of great value in stimulating interest in quality production, in drawing the attention of the farmer to defects in his produce. in training the producer in quality requirements, and in generally providing a great volume of useful information as to breed, strain and feeding, they represent but a stepping stone towards the Danish method of pig quality evolution and improvement of litter testing stations and breeding centres. “It is the latter, undoubtedly, that has put Denmark on the map as the premier bacon producing country in the . world —as the only country in the world 'that can turti out millions of pigs cut to a standard pattern.

“The main weakness'of our method, as compared with the Danes, lies in the fact that pigs brought forward for carcase examination under our competition method have been produced under such a wide variety of feeding and management methods that •it is impossible to say whether the type of carcase produced is the result of defects in type, defects in the quality of the stock, or defects in feeding and management.

Danish Testing Stations,

“In the Danish testing-station system pigs from... breeding centres are forwarded to special fattening farms at a young age, where they are reared to bacon weight on standard rations and

standard management conditions. This permits difference in carcase quality to be attributed solely to differences in stock qualify, and has enabled the Danish farmer to select at will and with relative ease the type of pig he requires, and has resulted in the evolution of a type of breeding stock which is guaranteed to yield uniform high-quality resul.s. “In the present show, for example, a great number of weaknesses are apparent in many entries. These are due cither to wrong type or wrong feeding. or both. No man, however, cae say, simply by looking at the carcase and without knowledge of how the pig has been produced, just wha: factor has been responsible for the deficiencies.

Visual Judging

“It is only a matter of guesswork ir this is attempted. The deficiencies in eye muscle, for example, which appear to be worrying many breeders at the present show, may be due either to hereditary or to nutritional factors, ■or both. “Under the nutritional factors, several things may affect it, so the position is made even more confusing. “It is because of this situation that any method of judging carcase quality on the hoof can never be 100 per cent effective. Such judging can select pigs of the right conformation, but since their internal structure is hidden, and since this can be materially influenced by many feeding and management factors, as well as by type and conformation, it is asking the impossible of a man, then, in requiring him to predict with certainty the quality of a carcase yielded by pigs fed and reared by methods unknown to him.

Hidden Factors

“It is true that there is a general relationship between the conformation of a pig and its internal anatomy, but the influence of feed is so great that there will always be a few animals that will fool the most expert of judges, for the reasons given above. “I do not consider the present results between carcase and hook judging of Messrs. Knecbone and Merritt to have disproved the theory in respect to external form and carcase quality. In all cases they picked pigs with the right conformation. In most cases they selected pigs 1 with the right conformation of flesh and fat. Any discrepancy has undoubtedly been due to ; lhc influence of unknown feeding factors.

‘Even apart from these, such a theory does not break down simply because it does not place pigs on the hoof in precisely the same order as their placings as carcases.

“It is justified to the hilt if it succeeds in picking pigs that score high marks as carcases, for it must bo borne in mind that under the system of judging employed, a few millimetres, of which there are '25 to an inch, in fat or muscle determined the final placings. “No man’s hand or eye is sensitive enough to differentiate to such a fine degree of accuracy. “An experienced judge on the hoof will get type that will score well on the average, but there will always be the odd pig, which will, because of abnormal or defective developments, fool him.

“The strength of the relationship between type and carcase quality can be seen from the fact that the carcase quality of this exhibition is such that the average score amounts to 77 per cent, of the total marks —a tribute to the ability of the exhibitors to select the right type of pig. All the hoof placings at the different district shows selected pigs that scored well, but the judges concerned should not be criticised for failing to place them in their precise order as carcases.”