BRITISH AND DANISH PIG METHODS

Waipa Post, Volume 31, Issue 1765, 1 June 1926, Page 7

BRITISH AND DANISH PIG METHODS

WEAKNESSES POINTED OUT. SOME SAGE ADVICE. In a foreword to the 1925 report published by the National Pig Breeders’ Association of England, the Right Hon. E. F. L. Wood,, M.P., describes the weaknesses of the British methods of pig breeding and feeding as compared with their trac’/i rival, Denmark. Many of his remarks are applicable to New Zealand.

“ The salient facts that we have to face, facts which my most experienced colleague, Lord Bledisloe, has laboured unweariedly to impress upon agriculturists, are that the number of pigs in this country remained practically stationary from the seventies of last century down to the period of the Great War. During the same time the number of pigs in Denmark rose steadily, decade by decade, until it equalled or exceeded our own. Yet Denmark was raising pigs only in order to sell them in England, and possesses no natural advantages over us, in that her fanners have, equally with ours, to purchase foreign-grown corn and offals out of which to grow the pigs. Nor can it be said that Denmark has attained her position because of the possession of a particular breed that is better tihan our own pigs. The ■Danish native race of pig s affords, like many others, a good foundation only; its sows are hardy, prolific, good mothers, and furnish the long side which is the foundation of the modern bacon pig. 'But it has been by using English sires that the race has been iimjproved aißl the typical standard bacon pig of the Danish factories has been evolved. “ As far as I am able to judge, the difference between the farmers of the two countries lies largely in the faot that whereas the English pig breeder thinks much of breed and the show' yard, the Danish pig man thinks only of the bacon factory. In Denmark there is only one good pig. There the aim, first, last, and all the time, is standardisation; whereas, in this land, there are at least a dozen breeds all endeavouring to keep themselves distinct, and thereby unconsciously tending to accentuate differences instead of to produce uniformity. The bacon factory must have uniformity both of weight and type; it is working on large batches, and cannot vary its treatment for each carcase; and, above all, it has to sell in the modern market, which expects an output that does not vary from one side to another or from one month to the next. Standardisation is the note of the modern trade, and our bacon factories cannot hold the top of the market unless our farmers supply them with the right raw material. We are justly proud of our breeds and breeders, but they must secure uniformity in the business parts of the pig if they are to retain their dominant position. It may be said that our farmers have an alternative market for pork and have to think of that also, but I am advised that the bacon type is equally desirable for the porker, and that the only difference the latter trade calls for lies in the feeding.

“ The uniformity of the Danish pig has been secured by the bacon factories, which provide practically the only market, and have therefore been able to dictate to the Danish fanner the type of carcase he must produce. Uniformity in production has grown out of uniformity in selling. “ Here we seem to touch the weakest spot in our English farming we sell by retail; we are mostly selling to dealers; and we are thereby out of close touch with the ultimate market. The pig trade is notoriously unstable; many farmers are always going in and out of pig keeping. Nothing has more militated against the extension of pig keeping than these fluctuations; but while they cannot be entirely avoided they can be greatly reduced by combination in sfcHiug- It there is a ten. porary excess of production the dealers hold all the cards when they have ■to treat with individuals only. Here lie s the value of co-operation. “ The pig industry of Great Britain has been making great advances since the war ceased. .Our pig population has made its first definite growth for the last half century; everywhere among pig keepers we find activity and interest in breeding, in feeding, and in management. We are moving forward, and my purpose here is only ,to suggest that the two ends we should constantly keep in view are uniformity of output and collective marketing.”