THE PIG INDUSTRY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 56, Issue 4042, 2 May 1938, Page 7

THE PIG INDUSTRY

THE WAIKATO COUNCIL. CONCENTRATION ON PORK. At the annual meeting of the Waikato District Pig Council a resolution recommending the establishment of a fixed price in the sale of sows between clubs, with a minimum of two guineas, was carried, and will be forwarded as a remit to the National Pig Council. A remit, moved by Mr Jamieson, recommended that all pigs from club sows that were intended for breeding purposes should be registered. The Hamilton Club, said Mr Jamieson, was concentrating on pedigree sows with the object of producing pigs that would hold their own with any produced in the district. The remit was carried. STANDARDISATION URGED. Mr Clark, of Patetonga, expressed the opinion that there should be some standardisation in regard to the breed of pigs kept by the clubs. It was the correct strain that was wanted and not any particular breed, commented Mr H. M. Peirson, pig extension officer. The correct strain was to be found in all the various breeds. The real value of pig clubs was the obtaining of an expression of opinion from the producers themselves, said Mr M. J. Scott, supervisor of the pig industry. However, jt was more important at present to obtain pigs of good quality with quick maturing qualities and the ability to produce good litters than to specify any particular breed of pig. The Dominion producer was committed to a duality of purpose as far as pigs were concerned, said Mr Scott, because of the limitation of pork exports to Britain. The present limit was 17,500 tons of pork. Delegates expressed the opinion that it would be to the benefit of the industry if arrangements could be made with Britain for New Zealand to export more pork, as pork production was proving more economical than bacon production.

NEW BRITISH SCHEME. AIDING HOME PRODUCTION. EFFECT ON NEW ZEALAND. ' The action of the British Government in adopting a three year scheme for the pig and bacon industry at a cost estimated at £1,0011,000 annually was reviewed by Mr W. A. Phillips, chairman of directors of the N.Z. Pig Marketing Association in the course of an interview with a Te Awamutu Courier representative on Saturday. The scheme provides for basic prices and compensation in the event of realisations dropping below the national prices. It is estimated that up to 2,500,000 pigs would be affected by the third year under the scheme. SCHEME WELCOMED. When interviewed on this development Mr .Phillips said that producers in New Zealand could view this scheme with general satisfaction, since the only alternative from the viewpoint of the British Government was to open the door to foreign imports of bacon, which for the last three years had been subject to a rigid quota. “Any British scheme,” said Mr Phillips, “which is designed to encourage British production by protection from foreign imports of bacon must automatically protect the interests of pig producers in New Zealand, since the price offered for its exports of bacon pigs has always been governed by their value in terms of bacon on the English market. The object of the British scheme is to stabilise the price of pigs for their producers, and the levels fixed, both in respect of pigs and their manufactured products, are such as will ensure a continued profitable market for our frozen exports which now enjoy a free and unsatisfied .market in Great Britain.’’ “The re-organised scheme will date from July Ist, and has been, fixed for a period of three years. It is therefore to be hoped,” concluded Mr Phillips, “that the opportunity thus afforded New Zealand producers for the sound continued expansion of their exports of bacon pigs will not be over looked.”