PORK AND BACON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20420, 23 November 1929, Page 11

PORK AND BACON.

DEMAND IN BRITAIN, NEW ZEALAND'S OPPORTUNITY, ECONOMIC COMMITTEE'S ADVICE, Embodying the results of the investi; Rations of a sub-committee which-visited Denmark, South Sweden and Holland to study matters in .connection with tho pig-i'aising industry, the twelfth report ot the Imperial Economic Committee contains much information of interest and value to Nov? Zealand. The subjects of rearing and marketing arj given promin-, snce, whilo a section dealing with ihe prospects of the trade in New Zealand contains the conclusion that the Dominion offers greater possibilities than any other new country for a definite development along progressive lines. / One recommendation of the sub-com-mittee is that the New Zealand policy should aim at entering tho bacon trade it no very distant date. This did not mean that, the existing trade in frozen pork should be abandoned, since the prevalent breeds were equally fitted for the production of bacon and pork and supplies of the latter came forward at the time of the year when it was in most demand in Great Britain. But both in the interests of that trade and of*a possible trade in bacon experiments should be continued to reduce, by better breeding and feeding, the costs of production. Trade in Pork. With regard to the porker trade it is mentioned that only recently the execu- • tive of the London Meat Retailers' Association waited upon Mr. Forsyth, London manager of the New Zealand Meat Producers' Board, and a member or the Imperial Economic Committee, asking that the supply of porkers from New Zealand should be increased. They expressed themselves as very pleased with Ihe New Zealand produce, and wanted more. Fresh-killed pork fixed the price, and New Zealand was sold for 2d a" lb. under fresh-killed. This year the Dominion produce had been selling at 9d ind lOd a lb., but last year it sold at sjd a lb., which did not pay the prolucers. Consequently, the Government lelped them out with, a small subsidy. This year there was a natural revulsion ind consequently not enough New Zealand pork. The question of periodicity in prices ivas one which was of great interest to the Dominion suppliers and one which the .üb-committee deals with at some length. Periodicity in prices of big products, says he report, is a marked phenomenon of he trade throughout the world. Of all he four-footed livestock on the farm Digs could be most rapidly increased or lecreased. Production rapidly responded ;o a rising market, 'and w£is regularly carried too far. The committee believes that the ill-effects of these fluctuations on Empire producers could be mitigated by better provision for the collection and dissemination of information on current production, prices and prospects in Empire and competing countries. It. recommends that the study of production and prices should be continuously pursued in Empire countries. Prices and Trade Movements. The Empire Marketing Board has Leon publishing, on the recommendation of the committee, regular information on the fruit and dairy trades, and it is recommended that similar work should be undertaken in regard to pigs, the information to cover not only the prices "and movements of pig products, but also the prices, stocks, and movements of pigs and feeding stuffs, together with the application of past ejyjerience to current data. The utility of this information, tha report adds, would largely depend on tho extent to which the farmers themselves were organised. So long as each farmer believed that he could profit more than his neighbour by following a purely individualistic line, so long were the tendencies of the market likely to be misinterpreted, and the variety f>f periodic fluctuations in price intensified. The Desired Type. Details of the type of carcase desired for the British trade are included in the report. They are based on the opinions of bacon-curers and dealers in the wholesale pork trade and therefore offer an authoritative expression of what is required. An interesting point in this connection is that the type, conformation and general quality of carcases suited to the requirements of the pork, bacon and ham trades are uniform. The type of_ carcase which meets the requirements of wiltshire Side and Midland curers also meets those of the pork trade, and vice versa. There is therefore no need to introduce further complications into pig production by requiring farmers to produce two distinct types of pigs accordingly as they prefer to supply the pork or the bacon market. The farmer producing the type of carcase in greatest demand by tho pork trade can, if that trace does not appear to be remunerative, grow his pigs on to bacon-weights and provide the type of carcase required by the curing industry. In so far as any variations exist in carcases demanded by those three, sections of the industry such Variations are, given proper feeding, variations only of weight and not type.