National Bacon Championship

Northern Advocate, 5 July 1939, Page 4

National Bacon Championship

GUR PIG COLUMN

' The championship has been decided, and the judging was done on the Hammond Davidson Swain scale. This scale is by no means an arbitrary one. Working with a substantial subsidy from the New Zealand Meat Producers’ ■ Beard, the expert committee that .worked this system out accumulated j evidence concerning the requirements I of the public, for a period of about four years, and then reduced this evidence to a table of points. It is thus I based on the only true foundation, ! that of the market itself.

Unofficially, a further system was tried out on these carcases in order to see how it would work out in practice, and the results were compared. The other system was that of the Bacon Development Board in England. It is always wise to try out any new system before attempting to adopt it in practice. No system can be absolutely perfect, and any chance of improvement must be tested. The results of this other system do not, at first glance at least, come up to that of the Hammend Davidson Swain system. While a mass of figures accumulated in connection with both systems, these figures only represent certain salient facts, and it is these facts that are important.

Salient Differences

The H.D.S. system, as it can be conveniently referred to, brought to the top places a very consistent line of cuts. When they were photographed and compared with photographs of the top nine of the other system, it was quite apparent, both at first glance and on closer examination, that the first named were more consistently good in that they had better eye of meat, less I fat and less fatty streak. Those selected accordingly to the latter schema had consistently thick bellies, which was to be expected as the thickness of belly is measured and points given for this. It was noticeable, however, that where there was any extra thickness as compared with those judged according to the former system, the extra thickness was fat and not lean. This is not in accordance with public taste. The .public requirement is for ample lean, with just enough fat to enable the lean to keep without drying out, and also enabling it to cook well. Ex-

cess fat can, after all, if it be required, be purchased cheaply as lard, and it is not economical to purchase it as bacon. It was further apparent that the sides selected by the judges were of a more even weight, and were longer, both of these points being of great importance. Those that pointed up well j according to the unofficial trial were of | very uneven weight, and were much j shorter. In actual fact, the first nine of i the H.D.S. or official system varied I only about twelve pounds in weight, j whereas those under the other system (varied about thirty-five pounds. We j are told that there is an ideal weight j of carcase, and it is therefore obvious j that the former system works out better by far in this way alone. In connection with length, the pigs under the H.D.S. system had an average of over five more points for length, a very obvious and considerable advantage. Summary Briefly summarised, it can be said truthfully that the pigs judged on the official standard were superior to the others in eye of meat, meatiness of belly, fat length and weight consistency. Without going into the matter further than this, it is apparent that the system employed by the judges at Whangarei still stands as the best one to employ in judging. It must be remembered, too, that in a competition of this nature we set out to select the very best pigs m New Zealand, and not to give prizes to pigs because they are of average good quality. A competition is always a competition, and every detail counts and only the most perfect should win. We wish : to set an ideal to aim at, and not be 1 contented with what we have already got. It is only by the setting of such an ideal, and by displaying as prizewinners those that most nearly approach to it, that such a competition j can have much educative value. 1

There is a tendency amongst English farmers to assume that they cannot reach the ideal, and to be contented with a very ordinary mediocrity. Apathy of this nature, and it can be called little else, will never get our farming community anywhere. We have, after ail, to compete in the markets of the world against countries that take the keenest interest in capturing the market by quality. Unless we do the same, we are likely to suffer very severely. It is no good saying that we can’t improve. That is rubbish. We can just as much if not more than other countries do, and we must. We must not therefore follow the lead of the English conservative farmer in these respects, but rather the example of the keenest of the foreign competitors.

Defect of All Our Pigs

A defect common to nearly all our pigs is the heavy fore end. It may therefore be wise to introduce into our system of judging points for light fore end. A measurement taken across the side, from shoulder to brisket at the widest part, shows many of our pigs to be approximately three inches too wide at this spot. An ideal Danish side will be somewhere about 10i to 12 inches at this part, whereas ours are usually over 14.

It is objected by farmers that if we lighten this fore end we will so lessen lung room that we will impair the constitution of the pig. This is hot

necessarily the case. The lung, after all, expands backwards towards the diaphragm, and if the pig is lengthy, there is ample lung room; although the lung will be of a slightly different shape. An examination of several light foreends as compared with heavy fores shows clearly that there was ample lung room in the light ones where those pigs have a light fore end and, then constitution would probably suffer. Danish pigs are constitutionally strong, and they have length with light fores. Further Questions Another matter that might be taken into account, although it is very difficult to estimate with accuracy, is softness of fat. This softness can be either physical or chemical. Fat is not as simple a thing as was once thought. It is made up of a, number of different fats, the proportions of which may vary considerably, and this will affect the firmness of the total fat. It is quite certain, however, that the public taste is for a clean, white, firm fat, and this can only be obtained by breeding for it and also by feeding for it. Swill fed pigs are usually deficientin this respect. Fats will also take up flavours. Pigs, for example, fed on offal that contains a good proportion of fish scraps will often have a badly tainted fat. This is to be avoided.

Judging Standards Enough has been said to show that the perfect judging standard is most difficult to attain. There will always be something that for practical reasons has to be left out. Attempts will therefore be made from time to time to improve the standards that we have. All these suggested improvements should be thoroughly tested in case they should prove of practical value. They must not only be useful, but easily applied. It seems that in the system employed now for some time by the Whangarei A. and P. Society, wo have one that works out very well in practice, and gives a consistently good result. Those who gain the honours under it can rest assured that they are working on the soundest lines, and those who are not so successful at least know where their pigs are defective, and they can take the appropriate steps to correct the faults that have been shown.

The ultimate test of any standard is the requirement of the consumer, and this was taken into account in evolving the official standard adopted. Unless therefore tastes change, as they might possibly over a period, farmers are well guided by the results of this test. Some people are inclined to say that if tastes change, there is not much point in changing the type of their stock. That is a very poor argument. The taste of the moment is the one that has to be considered. We may go back to ankle bathing suits, but there is not much profit to be made from stocking them now. 1 i i I i! i