YEAR OF STEADY PROGRESS SEEN IN RETROSPECT

Chronicle (Levin), 3 May 1946, Page 4

YEAR OF STEADY PROGRESS SEEN IN RETROSPECT

Pig Breeders Gather In Levin

ijlSTRlCT 'CGUNGIL MEETS Some forty Levin and district pig breeders gathered, in the Century Hall yesterday for the annual iiieev ing of the Wellington District Pig Council, The' chairmaii .(Mr. B. E. 'Keiller) presided, and. twith him. were Messrs. L, I. Plimmer (Secretary) and L. L. Mafsdon (superviso'r) . In welcoming those present, Mr. Keiller said he • was disappointed at the attendance, as 'tliere had been over 160 at the last meeting. Anpual Report . I . The chairman's annual report was (inter alia) , after 'a feference to tne end of the war, as follows :-^"The year has been a busy and profitable one and., looking back on our aetiv.ties, I think I can claim that the ,welve months were ones of steady and sustained progress. It" i'S noW iiine years since the councils were formed and we are now in a position io judge whether the. moVe was a good one, and whether the expendioure from the levy has been justi•fied,- I personally think the results, after taking into account economic factors over which we have no conirol, have been splendid, and that the .councils have made a large concribution to the well-beihg of the lhduStrv." , • -

After detailing the meetings during ;the year of the management cornmittee, which ad'ministered the council's alfairs, Mr. Keiller said the outstanding matters dealt with had been the gdministration of the crop subsidy scheme, * housing and layouts, assistaiice with baconer competitions, improved ' quality of pig meats, feed supplies and prices of pig meats.; • . Touching on . the crop subsidy scheme, Mr. Keiller said: "This may be referred to as a major operation for the council. Last year we handled 679 claims and this year -we have 694 to deal with. The crop inspections have meant a good deal of time in travelling and clerical work, but I am glad to say that, With one or two exceptions, the administration of the scheme was successful, and that we hope to do ■ oetter this year. In the main the I'ariiiers have extended to us tne maximum co-operation, and tnis aas been a big factor in the success of the scheme. "We must bear in mind that the priftiary object of the council$ is to give instruction and education ''ih' •eg'ard to pig raising. We have ^ldeavoured to carry out this object particularly in ; regard ' to" adequate md scientific housing.. -Our super/isor has expended a considqraWe irriount of time and energy o'h this pliase of otir work, and ha? beeh* \ble to render • material- assistance - jo' many farmers. It is inevitable ;hat with the_ network of councils jhroughout tlie Dominion, heade'd by- the national council, that certainocohomic factors in relatioh to rndiistry should be referred to the councils, altliough I do not belieVe it ' was originally intended that oconomic . and commercial probbnis should be solved by 'tne counicils. Howeve'r, we find ourselves j'eing drawn more and more- into ^he solving of these economic probems, and I suppose we can only :egard this tendency as a great jompliment. Ih particulaf I have n mind the question of costs of iroduction of pig meats and tne prices of same; both these matters .lave a very direct bearing on the prospertty of the industry, and as ve have been pressed by farmers jO do what we could to bring about i more equitable adjustment letweeen costs of prices, we have been compelled to devote paxt of 3ur time to this problem. So far he r e s ults' hav t h'o t -beeh spe ctacu - •ar, but I tjelieye that all that could ie done hab peen?i|0ri|; thq Meat: md Dairy Board has "now agreed to :ecognise the authority of the national council in this matter oi prices, and Mr. Nash ha's been furnshed with a wealth of information ;o enable him " to satisfactorily legotiate contracts for pig meats vith the British Government. "The financial statement shows that- we have managed to live A'ithin-our income of £900 and that we have concluded the year in a lightly stronger financial position han when we started it. The ;ouncil's assets have been soundly nvested in Government stock or Ixed deposits in the ban-k," In conclusion, Mr. Keiller made reference to the loyalty ahd co-op-iration extended to him by the nanagement committee members, he supervisor and secretary, all .ofnbining to make a fine working oeam, and thanked members of pig )lubs and supporters for service :endered and departmental officers "or as.- tance.

SuperVisor's Report - j The supervisor (Mr. Marsdon) , gave his annual review as under j linter alia) : — "Production: During the warj years there has been a steady j decrease in output of pig meats.; .Factors such as shortage of fertil- i isers, shortage of manpower, de-j crease in cow population, changes; from pork to bacon, and' also the: price factor, have been put for- ; ward as reasons . for the debline. With the first three excuses I will' not agree in full, for although the factor of manpower shortage did ; play a part, the fact that fertilisers ' were in short suppiy, and although; the cow populatibn did fali, there i was still at all times an ampumt of j dairy by-products available from i the decreased output of buttcr and cheese that it properly fed was sufficientoto produce a far greater quantity of pig meats than we actu-

ally ever did in any one particular year. 'I feel that a longterm policy of letting the farmer alone to'pro- -1 duce both pork and bacon as it best fi'ts in with his seasonabie food suppiy and farm economy is most desirable. The question of price is a matter for farmers themselves to attend to, and- an approach cah be made through dairy companies and . farmers organisations, - as well 'as your district .pig councils. I do nr' regard any of the foregoing excus y. as a valid reason for the drop production, but 1' fancy that it cah . . be accounted for by the gbneral 'ptosperity of the dairy farmer^ and the fact that they are not having .• to farm pigs seriously-: to sppple- - ment their income, and "also by the fact that in'many cases the conditipns under which pigs are kept-and ' • fed made the job a most unpleasaiit. : f and unprofitable one, - From figures available to date. it would appear that this year we may expect a slight increase in both our killingS and tonnagq of pig meats. "Crop subsidy: This year we have an increase in the numb.er of appli- , uauons for the £& per acre crop subsidy. The fact that these cofne in from all parts of our district entails " a lot of work in ths inspectibn of. * crops and the tallying of pigs on each farm. Farmers can materially assist by -filling ih their forms cor.rectly and forwarding them as soon as possible so that an inspection may be made. • ' , • : * ;

"Buildings: During .the year we have had erected new piggeries in , our area costing upwards of £4000'. Most of these have been built on the • • Manawatu enclosed type and. are. • giving good results. At the moment several large buildings are .under •, way and should be completed b'efore next season. Gre:at dilfieuity is experienced at -to.mes in obtaining > timber and cement but - despite . . every effort on my pehalf • to expedite delivery, long hold-ups ) are caused. Plans for buildings are available for those who are desirous of erecting same. •' "Instructional work: During tne year, besides visiting all farms \ where a request has come for assistjance in relation to pig husbandry, jl have attended many meetings of |Young Farmers' Clubs and also meetings of Farmers? Unions. Opportunities to . speak at .these gatherings is° always welcomed. i Broadcasts have been made regularly throughout the year and from (these I have had quite a number of i requests for service on individual farms. "During the year we have had several baconer competitions con•ducted in our'a:rea tvhich have created quite an intere^t at the time. From an • educational angle little was to be learned as far as breeding, prolificacy, milking, ability of the sow' and growth fato was' coh- " cefned, b'ut wheh 'the figures 'ovef all entries were analysed ohe or two very important. factors .were , disclosed. For. length. of side the average ovef 'all pigs on displaywas a score of 66 per cent./and for balance of side the remarkable poor score of ^ per cent., figures which definitely point to our pigs being far too short and much too deep in !fore-end, to carry the weight.of a I baconer. This brings us to the point i of ' how are we to overcome these two distinct weakness.es. ■ % The machinery has been .available for ma-ny years for "official litter recording" and also for carcase quality evaluatioii, but the fact remains that the number of perj sons making; use of these services ihas fallen to practically nil, with jthe result that if a farmer desires I to purchase a boar or sow that will j be a herd improver his chances are iat most 50/50. What every farmer | requires is a sire about whom he ! knows a great deal, figures that j warrant an assurance that there is every chance that his progeny will be an improvement on the past generation. . Until . litter recording and carcase 'quality .evaluation. is s;made a practice, and is. demanded ■by the purchaser* ii'ttle progress in the general quality of our pork and bacon can be expected. I . .

General Matters The election of three members to the management commit'tee then took place and as there were only ! the three original nominations, ! Messrs W. J. Croucher, B. E. Keiller | and C. Houghton, uiey were re- | elected. Mr. J. F. Rcdden was again i appointed auditor. I The secretary (Mr. Plimmer) , in ! presenting the annual statement of I accounts, said that the total profit to the end of the last financial year 1 was £119 Is, the assets totalled £780 ; 19s 6d, the capital was £640 11s 8d | and the gross income amounted to I £907 10s. j During the general% business, Mr. ' Keiller said that they had decided to reinstate the annual dinner in^ - ; conjunction with the annual meet- — ing, which will be held in Palmers- |j" , ton North next year at night. He'". i said that they had also decided to hold the annual meeting in a differ,'ent district each year. " ; At the conclusion of the meeting I the assembly retired for - a light iluiicheon which had been provided. | In the afternooh approximately 1 150 members visited the Levin ; Dairy Company's piggeries to I inspect the methods employed ; there. The farm manager (Mr. A. Martin) conducted tlie party through the latest sheds, which have concrete walls with concrete and brick floors. These enclosures also have a modern roof besides the three foot concrete walls. Another point of interest was the dip, which was approximately four feet deep and was filled with oil and water. A trip slat throws the pig forward into the mixture. For the remainder of the afternoon the group leisurely ifispected the rest of the piggeries and compared their methods with those they were witnessing.