Pig Census Returns.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 57, Issue 6, 20 December 1938, Page 502

Pig Census Returns.

Amounts of Meal Used.

M. J. Scott,

Superintendent of the Pig Industry.

THE census returns from 182 farms | which were discussed in last month’s issue of the Journal under the heading of " Pig-meat Produced per 100 lb. of Butterfat ” have now been examined from the viewpoint of amounts of meal used. The farms are grouped as follows : A : Farms on which the meal used is less than 5 per cent, of'the total feed supply. B : Farms on which the meal used lies . between 5 per cent, and 10 per cent. C : Farms on which the meal used lies between 10 per cent, and 20 per cent. D : Farms on which the meal used is more than 20 per cent, of the total feed supply.

From the last line of the table it will be seen that there is a gradual increase in the earning-value of skim-milk up'to the stage of using 19 per cent, of the total feed as meal, but that when the meal is increased to 34 per cent, the net value of skim-milk suffers. This may be an example of the law of diminishing returns. At least 5 lb. of feed are required to produce 1 lb. of meat ; as grain is at £l4 per ton, the 5 lb. of feed costs 7»d., and the 1 lb. meat is worth 6d. Hence, a stage must be reached when the excessive use of meal lowers net profit. The maximum return for skimmilk from these and other figures seems to be obtained when 1 cwt. of meal is used as .pig-feed for every cow milked. This means increasing the meal used on the average: by about two and a half times

the amount now used, and . improving returns by io per cent, to 12 per cent. Grain Used. •At the top of the table it will be seen that there is a tendency for little grain to be used where many cows are milked. The amount of grain does not appear to affect the number of cows per sow, this, in fact, being largely determined by the production per sow and the efficiency in the use of feed. When each sow produces much pig-meat the ratio “ cows to sows ” rises ; where feed is used efficiently it falls. This is seen in the table. The amount of grain used does not appear to influence the numbers of pigs per sow born, bought, sold, or died. As in last month’s notes, high returns are obtained when feed is used efficiently, and

from the table “ Total feed used to produce 100 lb. of pig-meat ” it will be seen that efficiency increases through groups A, B, and C, and falls off again in group D. This is most disappointing, as it is common experience that . the use of meal does reduce the total amount of feed required to produce a pound of meat. If the amount of feed required to produce 100 lb. of pig-meat in group D had been as low as that in group D of last issue the return for milk would have been i-ogd. per gallon ; if it were as low as that in group E last issue, the return would be i-32d. per gallon. This accidental decrease in efficiency of feed conversion is a more probable explanation of the poor results obtained by group D than the “ law of diminishing returns ” mentioned previously.

* Pork at 6d. per lb., meal at £l4 per ton, other feed at £2 10s. per ton—no deductions for labour or overhead. ' . - .

Group .'. . . .. .. A B. ? i ' c | D. Number of farms . . ... ' ... 99 55 19 9 Averages of — ‘ : Pounds of meal used per 100 gals, milk . . 2 I 8 8 19 19 34 34 Number of cows per farm . . . . 60 54 44 37 Number of sows per farm . . . . 4-6 5-i 6-i • 3‘7 Cows per sow. . . . .. . . 13-0 10-5 7-2 10-0 Production per sow— Pounds of pig-meat .. .. .. 974 938 ' 805 1, 064 Number of pigs— Born . . ■ • • • • • • 13'3 13-4 13-3 14-5 Bought . . ...... . . . . 1-4 2-6 I- 3 o-6 Sold io-8 11-7 io- 6 12-2 Died . . . . . . 3-3 2-7 2-3 3-0 Feed used to produce 100 lb. of pig-meat— Total (lb.) . . .. .. ... 827 ' 682 575 646 . As milk (gallons) . . . . . . 704 570 452 475 Meal (lb.) ... 15 ■' 49 85 162 ' Other feed . . . ... . . 108 63 4° 9 Average weight of pigs sold (lb.) . . 90 79 77 87 Pig-meat for 100 lb. butterfat (lb.) 35’7 43'7 55-i 1 52-0 Earning-value of i gallon of milk* . . ~ 0•78b. > o-8gd. I• O2d. o-75d