MODERN PIG-KEEPING

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19765, 21 December 1935, Page 27 (Supplement)

MODERN PIG-KEEPING

British Bacon Market. It has been expected that the Home Government will be able to do what it likes In regard to the proposed tariff on foreign bacon when the Danish trade agreement expires next June, and it seems unlikely at the present time that Denmark will agree to a tariff being imposed before that time. Now it is being pointed out that earlier in the year the Government entered into a trade agreement with Poland which forbids duties on bacon until the end of next year. And under the favoured nation treaty with Denmark a tariff cannot be put on Danish bacon (except by agreement) until it is put on Polish bacon. This means that if Denmark, after the very protracted negotiations now taking place, refuses to voluntarily agree to a tariff this cannot be imposed until the end of next year. While the British Board of Agriculture is endeavouring to stabilise prices of farm produce the Board of Trade is counteracting its efforts by trade agreements with foreign governments. Feeling is running very high in England over the matter. Writing editorially on it the Farmers’ Weekly of London says: “Surely all agriculturists know that the Board of Trade are passed praying for. They have never administered the quotas effectively. They are involving pig" producers in losses of £90,000 during .September and October alone,, this sum representing the decline compared with the August price. Mr Runciman, head of. the Board of Trade, deserves to be roasted instead of toasted at the National Farmers Union dinner next month.”

Lessons from Northern Ireland.

Big development is taking place in the pig industry in the North of Ireland. It is being controlled, an ( d controlled well, by the Pig Marketing Board of Northern Ireland. The Board broadcasts a little monthly news sheet, and this is proving a strong educative factor. There are many lessons New Zealand big breeders can take from the information there published.

It is said there is a market for all classes of pigs in Britain, and therefore there is no necessity to aim at ,one particular type of carcase. In the keen competition taking place in this country for pig carcases, with two great English meat concerns and, no less than three American meat packing concerns operating, no doubt some of the big meat firms can do well out of carcases not suitable for the Wiltshire trade, but from a national point of view the carcase for the Wiltshire cure is what New Zealand must aim at. Here is what the North Ireland Board says on the matter: “Wiltshire side bacon is demanded more and more in the prosperous areas of Great Britain. It is the kind of bacon being cut off from abroad. The board is, accordingly, strong for Wiltshire curing.” As to the type of pig required. There is a native breed, the Ulster, a white breed, but the Board wants farmers to concentrate entirely on the Large -White. In regard to this important matter it says: “Do not step backward; take a step fbrward. Move from half Yorks to all Yorks. Use not only York boars but York sows as well, and pay i attention to the sows and boars that fare producing well. Make sure, .however, that both the York boars, and the York sows are of the long, lean type.” The Board says again: “The Large White of the long lean type is the breed which is dominant in the most successful bacon producing countries of the world. It is the type which must dominate the Ulster pig industry if the Pigs Marketing Board is to continue to lead pig producers forward to success.” Describing the type of bacon carcase required the board says: “Wiltshire pigs should weigh between lcwt. 2qr. 7lb. and lcwt. 3qr. 141 b. live weight (between 1751 b. and 2101 b.), and should be long, lean, hairy, light-shouldered active pigs of the Large White type.” The board is doing its best to discourage the use of black pigs. It has fixed the price ‘for even partly black pigs at ss. a cwt. below the relevant grade price. • • * • Feed for Firmness. “Feed for firmness,” says the Irish Board, and gives this advice as to feeding: “There are too many soft quality pigs in Northern Ireland, especially among half Yorks \(Large Whites) and Ulsters (a white pig). Pigs with soft fat cause loss to producers, to curers and the board. Avoid trouble by keeping Large White stock and feeding correctly. Don’t use excessive quantities of maize meal, fish meal or meat and bone meal. Don’t include cod-liver oil or any other oil in your fattening ration.” The following finishing ration is recommended: 2 parts by weight of barley meal, 2 parts maize meal, 2 parts pollard, 1 part flaked maize, 1 part bran. Mix 2 to 3 parts potatoes (steamed or boiled) to 1 part of meal mixture. To be used together with skim milk (at least 3 pints per pig daily). If no milk is available, add 2 parts Soya Bean meal or meat and bone meal and 21b. mineral mixture. The above feeding particulars are given, but are hardly any guide to the Now Zealand farmer, the bulk of whose feed is of a protein character. Some grain food is necessary, but as only a small proportion is used it should bo of the highest quality and more barley than maize should be OECj|.

Further, as Mr 11. R. Davidson, the English authority, has pointed out, the special character of our food, which is a much higher flesh forming food than that used in England, demands a father diflerent type of pig. In England, he says, they want a leaner type of pig.than is required under our system of feeding. We want a thicker, lower-set pig, but still a lengthy one.