WHY PEDIGREE PIGS?

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 4, 28 April 1939, Page 7

WHY PEDIGREE PIGS?

REASONS AGAINST MONGRELS BREEDING AGAINST NATURE ' What is the place of the pedigree - (breeder in the pig industry as a ■ whole? When one is asked what is the pur--1 pose of pedigree pigs, the usual an- , swer is that t'hey form the basis of . commercial stock. The next question as usually: Why not breed from mongrel pigs? The answer is simple. Mongrel pigs are so variable in type that no one hoping to supply a definite market can rely on getting regularly the type wanted. In the second place, mongrel pigs are unselected pigs, and this is a fundamental fault. The pig required by man for supplying meat is almost the exact opposite to what Nature intended. Go to any zoo and look carefully at the wild pigs, and note the huge shoulders and fore ends and the relatively tiny hams. All the time Nature is trying to get back to that type, and it is only by continual selection that the commercial type is maintained. Only the Correct Type Any form of breeding, such as mongrel breeding, which does not continuously select only the correct type must be wrong. Next we come to the argument as to whether it is advisable to use only purebred pigs for commercial purposes or whether they are best made the basis for interbreeding—i.e* crossing. There is no need to go into controversial matter here. There are many who prefer to breed purebreds even for the commercial market, but there are still more who prefer some kind of cross. Whether it is the first cross or the second (come-back) is not material. From the cross they claim to get greater thriffciness from the hybrid vigour and a greater concentration of purpose. The dams may be selected for their efficiency in breeding, while the boars may be taken from a breed type and impart greater carcase quality to the offspring. We must, therefore, have pedigree pigs. But there are one or two problems which at present prevent the 1 (pedigree breeder from taking his full ' part in the industry. 1 Theory and Practice Theoretically, every breeder who pays his entry fee and annual subi scription to a breed society becomes at once a pedigree breeder, and there 1 as nothing but reputation to differentiate his pigs from those of herds I which may have been established for - half a century. The result of this is - that pedigree pigs as a whole may - suffer in reputation because some of them have been produced by careless t, or ignorant breeders. \ Another objection to not having graded breeding stock is that almost anything which happens to have had parents in a herd book may be sold as pedigree stock, however, poor it may " be, at prices which are no higher than those for stock for slaughter. At first sight the commercial pro- > ducer may think this is to his advantage, but a little thought shows how s much harm may be done by a "cheap 'X and nasty" boar. :i A problem, sometimes looked on &s n a major one, is the multiplicity of breeds in ithis country. After examining this question from all points of view, I have come to the conclusion that the number of our breeds is not really a disadvantage to the pig industry as a whole. The present organisation on. a bacor (basis tends to exaggerate the tendency to think of pigs only from ths (bacon point of view. We hear mucl' about Denmark and her two breeda Our problems are not the same a. lS Denmark's. They are, in fact, con , x siderably more complicated. jj.' We have to produce pigs for thre t ' different markets. Baccn is t'he mos - A obvious one, but, in addition, we hav u the fresh pork market which Den mark and mosit exporting countrie r-'-t know nothing about and which take us approximately half of our pigs. ll '* Important Export Trade Then there is an important expoi . y trade in pedigree pigs for whic ICS England is world'famous. Such pig sic may not be required either for baco ar ~ or for pork as we know it. In mar )r(> cases they are needed for grading v iVlr local breeds with a view to givir them size and stamina, and som< nd. times they may be wanted to in he prove a local pdg for the sausage < tte lard trade. C ss We have, accordingly, three wel defined markets as compared wi >cr Denmark's one, and our problem is . 5s leasit three times as difficult. Pro ', this paint of view it is probably all '' (the good that we have several diffe an ~ ent breeds which have been bred car fully for a long time. No, the problem to my mind is n

one of too many breeds, but of too many breed societies. Friction and inefficiency coins from the working of the societies, and not from any intrinsic difficulties in the breeds themselves. In the one case, where five diffierent breeds are all control-led by the one society, friction and inefficiency are conspicuous by their absence. It seems almost inevitable that' in ths further organisation of the industry all the breeds will have one central control. One other problem should not be overlooked. In Great Britain quite a (number of pedigree pigs are sold to owners who keep them for a hobby and not for commercial purposes. Of course, this applies to all kinds of live stock ,and not only to pigs, but it has a bearing on the pedigree question. These pigs are "purchased by buyers who are willing and able to pay good prices—sometimes, and, in fact, often, higher t'han would normally be paid for good breeding stock. In so far as it exists, the market is a useful one for the pedigree breeder, and he would be doing less than his duty to himself if he were to neglect it. (Pigs sold for this market, however, sometimes prejudice the commercial buyer against the breeder and give the impression that pedigree breeding stock are dearer than they should be, which is, in fact, not the case. Their Proper Place As I see i*, therefore, the place of ithe pedigree breeder in the industry is an important one. Yet I feel that pedigree breeders as a whole fail to occupy it. To take their proper place there must be some kind of grading of herds and breeders, and legislation of the kisid typified by boar licensing schemes. There must be co-or-dinaition of effort resulting in all breed society work coming under one authority. Above all, there will have ito be greater representation of pedigree breeders on the committees of the present administrative schemes. lit is a curious fact that, although breeders have done much, to organise the industry, beginning with the Pig Industry Council and including much support of investigation work and the standardisation of recording land carcase-testing methods, they have little, if any, real influence in the framing of the reorganisation schemes where the commercial producer has been so well represented from the beginning.