PIG MARKETING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5328, 19 September 1928, Page 3

PIG MARKETING.

THE CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION A FLOURISHING CONCERN. A review of the operations of ,the. N.Z. Co-opea-ative Pig Marketing Association's work during the past season was given, by Mr. S. H. Judd, chairman bf directors, to a representative meeting of Hauraki Plains farmers at Ngatea last night. Mr C. W. Schultz, chairman of the local committee, presided. Mr. Judd claimed tha.t the Past sea.-, so.n had been a partial success!. In some directions the Cperatfoffs of the association had been very successful, while in other directions difficulties had l been- encountered. The work had been much greater than had been, anticipated. It was a business with turnover of £Bo,oo’o, a nd. had been conducted without a penffy of capital. Delays in shipping had occurred, as .the association wa.7 not. in existence when other busin,esses were booking their Shipping space. .This delay bad meant the missing of the best market, and had also meant, an expenditure op account of storage. All the, season's product had been disposed of, and the final payout would be made in a few days. An adverse factor, was that, the association wag unknown to the importing firms. However, despite this, he could claim that the payment was satisfactory, taking everything into consideration. With the exception of one case, the prices paid at the scales were in advance of those paid by proprietary firms. Considerable saving, to farmers had been effected by means of the insurance - scheme an.d by the. issuing of exchange-free cheques. GRADING OF PIGS. Mr Judd said that baconers had been graded into prime and secojnd grade, ai<d it was gratifying to find that 91 per cent, had proved prime. Although the proportion of second grade was small, it was proposed to cqntinue the grading. Reports from the: Home market were to the- effect that the right type of pig was being sent forward from New Zealand, because there were 0.n.1y five predominant breeds as against at least. 27 cOimnion breeds in Britain. HIGH QUALITY PRODUCT. The Auckland province was sepding forward the right, quality of pigs, continued Mr Jude}, and it had been suggested by importers th,a,t thei association’s pigs should be distinctly branded soj that a premium could: be gained. An improvement could be effected by finishing off the pigs with grain, so as to. improve the texture of the fat. The prospect for the, industry was bright, and farmers were encouraged to top off their pigs on grain so. that a name would be made* fqr the New Zealand product. Colonel Dunlop Young had reported that the porker pigs from the Auckland’ province had pleased the Smithfield market very much, but the quality of baconers could be improved by finishing off the pig.s on hard feed. Farmers get a direct benefit from feeding grain, as the shrinkage of the carcases was much less —experience had prc.ved it to be as little a,s 17 per cent. To get the best results farmers should endeavojur to turn off p'orkers up to the end of November, and from then 1 on till the milk supply failed endeavour to bring their pis s up to baconer weight If this was done the pigs cwild be marketed’ to the best advantage and with a minimum of storage. The curing, of farmers’ pigs had been found impracticable, but suppliers coiuld obtain bacop at the lowest wholesale rate. Its quality could be guaranteed, .and the price at present was is per lb free of railage. ,to the nearest railway station. As the growth of the as.sociati m’s business wa9 becoming appreciated by the London houses, many of them had offered attractive financial arrangeme.n|ts whe.reby a considerable gain to growers would result. GRADES FOR .NEjKT SEASON. Dealing with the grades to be used next season, the speaker stated that an extra grade would be introduced, as it. had been shown that parcetls; of the, various grades could then be selected to meet the requirements of the different markets. It had been found that, the existing grades were no;t the best, and ini future, the grading would be: Porkers, 601 b to 1001 b , baconers, 1001 b to 1801 b; heavy baconers, 1801 b to 2001 b.; choppers, 2001 b upward. WORKING CAPITAL. Dealing with finaincia.l matters, Mi Judd; said it had been suggested that ,to give the association some working, capital, debentures of £1 be offered and each supplier urged, toi take, up a debenture. They would not be in,-terest-bearing, but yvould be redeemed when, the association wa.s wound, up. The, matter was. mentioned with a view boi obtaining, an expression of qpinion. Farmers in other districts had favoured the proposal, as they contended that sin.ee the association commenced operations in January last they had benefited by a. eo;nsiderable. sum. There were over 4000 suppliers, and if only 7'5 per cent, of them took up £1 debentures the association would have sufficient fluid capital tio. make the work much easier and more, profitable. Mr R. Paul mqved, and Mr H. F. Louch seconded, that the issue of £1 debentures, as. suggested by Mr Judd, was a desirable propositi-Ch. The motion was carried unanimously. In reply to, a question as to the competition of proprietary concerns, Mr Judd said that the buyers could only do two tih'.ings-—either put. up the price, aboye I;he export parity or put it below. If the price offered by the scale buyers was below the export value, farmers should send their pigs to the association. If the scale, buyers offered la higher price than the expoj't parity, the.n the association’s advice was Tor. farmers to sell their pigs locally. The association, wcnld advise farmers of the value of pigs at any time.. Mr Schultz mentioned that during the past seasofi’ over 2000 1 pigs had been sent, forward) through the Ngatea committee.

NGATEA BRANCH. The annual meeting of the Ngate.a branch was then held. Mr P. R. Henry, cha.irmaii. of tlie Turua District. Committee., stroke in favour of tlie bran|ch extending its operations to .include the TuruaKerepeehi district, and Mr J- A. G. Wilson moved in that direction. Mr H. Sparrow said that, from tlie carrier’s point of view the larger district. could be worked to advantage. -Mr Wilson said’ that the Turua district was too small. As only about 600 pigs were, sent forward in the past year there was a difficulty in securing full truckloads. The motion, was carried. The committee; elected was : Messrs C. W- Schultz, H. F. Lo.uc’h, E. W. Martin, J. Motion, W. Jones. A- H. McClean). P. R. Henry, J. A. G. Wilson, H. Dalgety, T. A. McClean, and' G. Pa.ton. Mr Schultz was reappointed chairman and Mr E. W. Martin secretary. It was decided 1 to. call tenders for the cartage of pigs to the railway station at. Pae'ro.a or Kopu, whichever wa.s the.- most convenient, from depgts at Waitakaruru, Pipiroa, Ngatea. Kerepeehi, am] Turua, tenders to include full responsibility for losses. It was agreed that the existing, cartage contract ,te,rm be extended uiiptil September 29.