THE FARMERS’ FORMER

Waikato Independent, Volume XLIV, Issue 6106, 26 September 1947, Page 2

THE FARMERS’ FORMER

DANISH LANDRACE PIG

. SHOULD THEY BE IMPORTED INTO NEW ZEALAND VEWS OF AGRICULTURAL JOURNALIST Impressed by the Danes’ success on the British bacon market some breeders in New Zealand and Australia have considered importing the Danish Landrace pig. . In a Pacific service broadcast the 8.8. C. has advised Dominion breeders that such imports would gain them nothing. Pig-keepers were told that the Dominion’s need was not Danish pigs hut the methods of improvement used by Danish breeders —an honest and helpful piece of advice. The broadcast was made by Mr, H. R. Davidson, an agricultural journalist who has specialised in pig farming. Co-operative enterprise, business acumen and good feeding and management have all played their part in the success of Danish bacon, lie said. But their special type of pig, the Landrace, must be considered as very important for it has gone a long way tb satisfy importers and bacon merchants in Britain. The word Landrace is just the Danish for country breed, he explained. It was the ordinary non-pedigree type of pig common in Denmark at the end of the last century. But for the Wiltshire bacon trade- on which Denmark decided to embark it was definitely unsuitable. It was decided after a study of British breeds, that the large White

Yorkshire was the best pig for the does not mean that Canada is in any Denmark could not be replaced by importing this breed, however, so enough large Whites were purchased to establish breeding centres.

The Large White boars produced by these centres were used in large numbers for mating with the native Landrace sows. Their first cross offspring provided the bacon crosses on which Denmark first built her reputation. Biit the Danes did not want to give up their own breed, so while they were producing a sound cross-bred for the export trade they set out to evolve the Landrace into an ideal baconer.

“It is to their outstanding credit that they were the first country in the world to apply commonsense technical methods to the breeding of pigs for commercial purposes,said Mr Davidson. ‘ “Selection was based on measurements of carcase conformation, of rate of maturity and on economy of food consumption. There is more to learn about how these measurements should be taken, and about what they really mean when they have been taken, but the results obtained in the developmeht of the Landrace as it now exists have made the world take notice. \

“Now, have Australia and New Zealand anything to gain by importing Landrace pigs ? Frankly, I am rather doubtful.

“‘There is nothing magic in the strain, but there is a great deal of value in the methods by which the Landrace was .evolved from the-origi-nal stock. : . • “The Dominion could develop a pig to meet any requirements if they also used the proper methods. They have already taken considerable steps in this direction.”