Pig Census Returns

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 59, Issue 5, 15 November 1939, Page 415

Pig Census Returns

Amounts of Meal Used

M. J. SCOTT,

Superintendent of the Pig Industry, Wellington.

THE census returns from 267 farms all over New Zealand are now available for the second year ended May 31, 1939. The information collected is examined from the standpoint of amounts of meal used and the profitability of using different amounts of meal at a price for pig-meal and at three different prices for meal. Farms are grouped as follows: A. Those on which the meal used is less than 5 per cent, of all the feed used. , ■ (92 farms) B. Those on which the meal used is between 5 and 10 per cent, of feed. (74 farms) C. Those on which the meal used is between 10 and 20 per cent. (70 farms) D. Those on which the meal used is more than 20 per cent, of all the feed used. (31 farms) As was the case last year, the best return for skim-milk is obtained when meal is used at the rate of approximately lcwt. for every cow milked (with pig-meal at s|d. per lb.), even though meal is £l4 per ton. This is not the result of any theorising. It is the average result obtained by 70 farmers who use meal in this way. Their return for pigs, after paying for meal used, is 4/7 per cow better than the return obtained when meal is used for pig-feed at the rate of 161 b. per cow milked, and slightly better than where only 451 b. per cow are used. Those whose use scwt. meal per .cow milked reduce their profits below the level of those who use no meal or only a little meal.

Meal Prices The question of meal prices assumes a new importance with the change in

weight of pigs that may be expected. For this reason .it may be worth while to consider more critically the returns stated above. Most farmers protest that meal prices, are too highat the present price of pig meat meal prices are nearly twice as high as meal prices in Great Britain but there are very few who have specific evidence of how the prices of meal influence the cash returns for dairy by-products. There are so many slips between £lO paid for meals at the beginning of the season and £lO of increased output that it is quite impossible for anyone to say what part

the meal played in profits or losses. An unusual milk shortage or heavy mortality in pigs could quite easily destroy all the profits of using meal, while in another year abundant milk, used wastefully, gives more profit than was ever expected from a combination of all the best practices and a lesser milk supply. In the accompanying table there are set out the values of skim-milk per cow (500 gallons) when this is fed to pigs with meal in different proportions (the average amounts used by farmers who supplied census information), and when the meal costs are £l4 or £9 or £6 per ton. Pig meat is taken at 5Jd. per lb. The returns per cow are gross, less the cost of meal bought. No ac-

count is taken of labour and overhead costs.

Repays Study This table repays careful study by those who treat the meal position as a business. It will be seen that the price of meal does not matter at all when only a little is used, but when used at the rate of lcwt. per cow milked, a reduction in the price of meal pays good dividends. Pig-keepers could with advantage set out to persuade the organised industry to give consideration to trebling the meal consumption at a price near £9 per ton. It would improve the

profits from pigs by 20 per cent., and increase the number of pigs by about only 10 to 12 per cent. The most striking feature of the table is the increase in the earning value of skim milk as the proportion of meal increases, with only one exception. Where meals of pollard, barley, or other grain quality can be used for £9 or £6 . per ton, the greater the amount that is used up to scwt. per cow milked, the greater the profit. Where meals cost £l4 per ton, the upper limit of profitability is reached apparently when lcwt.. of meal is used per cow milked; that is, lib of grain to five gallons of milk.

• ■ Nett return per cow when meal costs per ton are: — £14 £9 £6 A.Meal used for pig feed at the rate of 161b. per cow . . .. 30/10 31/3 32/1 B. — „ ,, ,, ,, 451b. per cow . . .. 35/— 36/8 38/C. — ,, ,, ,, ,, 1 cwt. per cow .., 35/5 39/2 41/8 I).—- ,, ,, ,, „ 2J cwt. per cow .. 21/8 40/5 52/1