BACON FOR EXPORT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19986, 19 December 1934, Page 6

BACON FOR EXPORT

To the Editor of “ The Timaru Herald ” Sir, —For sometime I have thought New Zealand should enter into the bacon trade for overseas markets in England and the East. There is not likely to be as great a quota put on bacon as on meat or pork coming into England; there may be a small duty put on it, but that would not kill the trade. I have mentioned this suggesed bacon export trade to several business men and the arguments against it are as follows: Ist: “Our bacon is the worst in the world and no one would buy it.” This could be easily overcome by importing a few English experts who would teach us how to cure bacon. 2nd: “Another statement made is that our bacon to sell in England must be mild-cured, and bacon from here would not keep.” This is not correct as I have my pigs mild-cured and put in the freezing works and take them out from time to time as required. Bacon mild-cured will keep fresh for two months after coming out of the freezing chamber and keep as long as you like when in the works. 3rd: “The following statement is also made that mild-cured bacon cannot be stacked and the cost of shipment will be too much from here to England.” All I can state is when I go to the freezing works to get my bacon, I find it is stacked to the roof and no harm is done.

It is hard to understand why all these obstacles are put in the way ot this bacon trade, and to show that they are not correct, a friend of mine who went to live in England and had a farm here, used to have his own bacon shipped Home and it was perfect. The Meat Board has done a great deal to encourage the shipment of pork and bacon pigs to be cured in England, but the point I wish to make is if our bacon was cured in New Zealand, it would give employment to a large number of people and in time this export of bacon would be much larger than the export of meat. Taking the Meat Board’s last annual report, the total value of meat exported in the year ending March, 1934, was £10,268,238 and during that year Denmark which is not as large as Otago and Canterbury exported to England in bacon and pig products the value of £19,123,933, and if we go back to the year 1931, she exported bacon and pig products to the value of £22,393,767. This is more than double our meat exports. I also notice that during the year 1933, New York exported to England £2,293,116 worth of hams alone. These few figures show what a vast trade there is ahead of us by shipping our own bacon to England and other countries. His Excellency, the Governor-General, has taught us how to breed the right pig for export; when he arrived here our exports of pork were next to nothing; now it is estimated that during the coming season half a million pigs will be sent away, which is equal to about two million lambs. Before His Excellency leaves New Zealand I trust he will give us an address on how to mild-cure bacon. We are all now 7 beginning to realise what a great friend he has been to the farniers of' this country. There has never been a Governor General who has realised our troubles more than he has done, and I sincerely believe if he w 7 as only able to remain here, w 7 ith his great knowledge of butter, cheese, pigs, bacon and general farming he would pull us out of the mess we are in.—l am, etc., BERNARD TRIPP. Timaru, December 14.