PIG PRODUCTION

Putaruru Press, Volume XXI, Issue 1231, 22 May 1947, Page 8

PIG PRODUCTION

SERIOUS DECLINE Lowest Since 1930 Pigs slaughtered in the year ended March 31 numbered 617,398, or some . 118,000 fewer than those lolled in the previous year, and the lowest level of production since 1930, stated the superintendent of the pig industry, Mr. H. M. Peirson, in a letter to a meeting of the Auckland District Pig Council. Mr. added that the slaughtering for March exceeded the previous March toy 18,000, indicating a possibility that a reasonable increase in production might be looted for by March. 1948. “The past year has been a continuation of trial for the pig industry,” the president, Mr. F. A. Dewhurst, stated. “In spite of the continued efforts of the council and its officers, we must note with some regret a further decline in pig meat production. This 1 can be attributed mainly to the fact that building materials are difficult and costly to Obtain; the scarcity o(f supplementary feed and the difficult problem of farm labour.” The meeting agreed that increased production of pig meats was most desirable and toward this end' decide to ask the National Pig Industry Council to explore fully the possibilities of importing cheaper foodstuffs for pigs, including copra, at an economic figure, and the sale of discarded whole biscuits direct, to the pig raisers instead of to firms for the manufacture of pig meal.