YOUNG FARMERS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 40, 1 February 1946, Page 6

YOUNG FARMERS

MEETING AT WAIMANA SUPEiRV ISOR’S interesting ADDRESS

At a recent meeting ol' the Waimana Young Farmers’ Club, Mr A. F. Harwell Supervisor for the Bay of Plenty District Pig Council, was the speaker for the evening. Mr BafweJl opened his address by thanking those present for giving him the opportunity of speaking to such an interested group as those present. He then dwelt at some length on the Pig Club movement, beginning with the formation of the MariawatuOroua Pig Recording Club in 1932. Eater on a scheme for the establishment of Pig Clubs was put into operation by tlie North Taranaki Exe-

cutive of the Farmers’ Union, the idea of the individual Pig Clubs being brought forward by one of the Executive Members who had. seen the scheme in operation in Denmark. Mr Harwell paid tribute, to the work done by Mr H. M. Peirson, then Recording Officer for the Waikato Pig Recording Club, but now Superintendent of the Pig Industry. As tlie Pig Club movement advanced throughout New Zealand, District Pig Councils came into being as the executive body of the Pig Clubs and Supervisors were appointed to give guidance and instruction in all matters relating, to Swine Husbandry.

Today, Supervisors do not confine their work only to Pig Club members hut their assistance is available to all levy paying farmers. Their field coverss advice on the laj'out and construction of piggeries, feeding and management, the different kinds of fodder crops that can be grown for pigs, and various breeding problems. A very important aspect of the work is the obtaining of good breeding stock for farmers, unoll’ieial soav recording combined with the Carcase Quality Scheme, litter recording anti, the registration and transfer of pedigree stock. Lectures and demonstrations are given to interested bodies and broadcasts relative to Pig Husbandry prepared. For the carrying out of this work

a levy is made on all slaughtered pigs throughout Ihe Dominion and tins levy has now' been fixed for some years past at 3d per pig. This levy of 3d per head is deducted by all operating firms and paid to the Department of Agriculture. The funds are then equally divided and allocated by the National Pig Industry Council between the nine different District Pig Councils, of which there are seven in the North Island and two in the South Island, the money being used to pay the salaries of. the Supervisors and Secretaries, car allowance and oifice expenses.

The territory under the jurisdiction of the Bay of Plenty Pig Council includes the whole of the Coromandel Peninsula and extends down tlie coast past Opotiki to Cape Runaway. From Tauranga an almost direct line could lie taken over the. Lower Kaimais extending to the Mamakus, North and West of Ngongotaha. From there a line could, be drawn South to Atiamuri, near Lake Taupo and from there out to the East Coast again. The Rangitaiki Plains had by far the biggest pig production, but areas where the pig population had shown a noticeable increase included Galatea, Reporoa and Ngakuru. Attention was drawn to the notable performance of Galatea securing first and second prizes and Reporoa the third prize to the best teams of four carcases* from the Bay of Plenty area at Tlie Tomoana Baconer Competition held at Westfield last July where there were 1412 carcases entered.

Emphasising the importance, of quality in securing and holding an overseas market the, speaker said that a very definite goal ior every Young Farmers’ Club during 1946 could be to establish a Pig Club among its own members. The Opotiki Young Farmers’ Club had already given a lead in this direction and now owned its own pedigree sow and was operating as an active Pig Club,.

The speaker went on to explain the Carcase Quality Scheme, a means whereby any farmer using either a pedigree boar or sow could obtain a complete analysis of his pigs from birth to slaughter so that from the information obtained he could tell whether he. has a strain within a ireed that is worth persevering with

and whether it is a strain more suitable for pork or for bacon. As nn illustration it was pointed out that a 3001 b. butterfat cow was a good cow; there 1 were many better and many worse hut a herd to average 3001 b butterfat was quite satisfactory. The same standard, should be applied to sows. A good sow should produce a litter of kOOlbs liveweight of piglets at eight week's. Some sows did much better, producing TOO lbs and oOOIbs at eight weeks, but there were many that produced only 150 to 2501 b litters and some lower still. Litter recording was the yardstick by which a sow’s performance could be measured on the farm. To carry the scheme a stejp further weighing was carried out at 16 weeks and later when the pigs were despatched to the works steps were taken ot have each carcase evaluated and the resulting analysis forwarded to the farmer and the Supervisor. Jn this way the top strain*, within certain breeds could he located and the progeny distributed for breeding. This was a step that had long been contemplated but it was hoped that as farm conditions returned to normal progressive farmers would co-operate with the Supervisor not only for their individual benefit but for the benefit of the pig industry as a whole and the bearing such a long-view policy must ultimately have on the raising of the quality of our pigmeats.