PIG INDUSTRY

Te Puke Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 21, 18 March 1947, Page 3

PIG INDUSTRY

UTILISATION OF DAIRY BY-PROD COTS

improvement in production

In a recent address, All' A. Longwill, assistant supeiiiiteiidaiit of the Pig Industry, said that it had been calculated that on the basis of the by-products available from tin' dairy industry New Zealand should be able to produce over 70,000 tons of pig meat. The best New Zealand bad so far been able to achieve was 580,000 ton's in 1941, wlieii the supply of labour had been already badly hit. Last year the output was down to 88,000 tons and the sow population was falling. It was evident, said Air Longwill, that a really "ellplanned effort was necessary if the country was not only to arrest the drift but to take full advantage of the present opportunity. .

Firstly, steps must be taken to eliminate all waste dairy by-pro-ducts either on the farm or from the dairy f"'orv. continued Hr Longwill, This would not be achieved overnight as it involved providing) more accommodation and breeding stock and arranging that pigs were bred to cope with the annual flush of the skim milk or whey without the usual wasteful over-feeding. However, a target of a 10 oer cent increase per annum in weight of pig. meat produced in each successive year for the next four or five years should not be unreasonable. A proportionate increase in sow numbers would be required if the Dominion was to secure the increase in weight without spoiling oiialilv by the production of too many heavy weight pigs.