PIG PRODUCTION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 52, 20 November 1946, Page 7

PIG PRODUCTION

PORKERS OR BACONERS

PROSPECTS FOR EXPORT

In recent times there has been much talk on this subject. In particular the National Pig Council is laying considerable emphasis upon the need for a greater production of porkers and a lesser production of baconers for the export trade. Recently Mr Grigg, Chairman of the New Zealand Meat Board, in reporting to the National Pig Council upon his observations in Britain, endorsed the view that the futureprospects for our porker exports to Britain were definitely brighter than those for our baconers. This is nothing new. Always our porker carcases on the British market have been very well received and found ready sale. This is because our porker carcases have compared more than favourably with imports from any other country and this still applies. The fact remains, however that while our baconers in these terms compared less favourably, our exports from the producers’ angle have never been less remunerative to him than pork, so why in the face of these facts set about to give him a bias which cannot be supported by a guarantee of a preferential return ?

Because as to whether the producer produces bacon or pork depends on so many domestic considerations and in general it suits most folk to keep fewer pigs of baconer weights than more pigs of porker weights, what is the justification at this stage on a falling National production and a shortening local supply for baconers for all the emphasis for the production of one class of pig against the other? The vital need today is to produce more pigs. The National Pig Council in its endeavours to improve the standard of our pig carcases has over the past few years done a worthy and excel-, lent job of work. The quality of our pig carcases over the past ten years has in fact improved so remarkably that in our view there is no need to worry about our. future export markets for either class of pig. If the long range future domestic position of importing countries renders it feasible to open the door to our exports the quality of our baconers still improving as they are, will find a ready sale on the British market as they did before the war, and as there is at present no real evidence that the producers return in this country will relatively be any letter or. worse for one class of pig than the other, why not leave it to him to decide in the light of his own domestic and economic consideration wffich class of pig it suits him best to produce. It will be time enough to engender a bias on whether he should produce more pork than bacon or vice versa when our .total production is uplifted to the point where there is a visible surplus of bacon pigs for export. On the present trends there is little prospect of this unless there is a considerable overall increase in total ■ production. Meantime on the broad principle that irrespective of export market developments which beyond the next year or two are still obscure the local market for bacon pigs must be the most reliable to cater for insofar as the producers’ return is concerned. Otherwise let us all do what we can to encourage the production of more pigs. This is the vital issue and with this accomplished all others are of secondary importance.