Pig-Raising

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 916, 8 March 1930, Page 27

Pig-Raising

SIDE by side with the devoloj export trade the eonsumpl nion has shown a gradual increj fast rasher is growing in popu holds. Despite the fact that, there is au assured market for all this country can produce, however, it has not yet been found possible to stabilise the industry in such a manner as to guarantee regular supplies for any particular mar het. No section of farming is more susceptible to market prices than pig raising. There is a big section of marginal breeders who come in only when prices are good, pulling out wheu there is a decline, and, as a result, years of heavy supplies follow years of short markets with precisional regularity; incidentally, the marginal producer, the man who is in and out of tiie industry, seldom shows a satisfac- ' tory profit on his efforts and the prestige of the industry suffers as a re- j suit. Ona of the big factors about pig raising is that it. takes little more tbau 18 months to bring on a big increase in output; pigs can he ready for the market within eighteen months of a decision to set a young sow for breeding; thus a period of high prices is generally followed two years later by oversupplies and lower values. Ac ting on that, assumption exporters now predict good prices to the end of next season, after which lower values can be again expected. Reports from overseas at the moment indicate that North America s approximately 5.000,000 head short, in her pig herd 3 this season; Argentina and other countries, outside the Continent of Europe, are much in the same position; the swing of the pendulum cannot be looked for for another 12 months at least. In the meantime both in New Zealand for home consumption and overseas for sale particularly on the English market there is a steady demand for pork products which all the talk relative to “fishy taints” of a few months ago did little to diminish.

Exhaustive investigations abroad have shown that there is a very definite demand for New Zealand pork ] and that a profitable trade could be built up if only regularity of supply could be assured; the English pork market is worth many millions sterling to Danish exporters, and a big share of this is available for New Zealand producers. As indicated, however, the biggest handicap those who are attempting to build up the trade have to cope with is the in-

Stabilisation of Industry

pment of New Zealand’s pork t ion of pigs -within tlie Domiase in recent years; the breakilarity in New Zealand houseability to maintain a regularity of supply. There may be a big export surplus one year, while the next may see only a very small surplus available for shipment, overseas. This weakness has long been recognised by the leaders of the industry in this country, and a further effort is now being made to put it ou a better footing. There has been formed in the Waikato recently a Pig Recording Association which, with the support of a wide range of members, aspires to undertaking an exhaustive | research of the industry, with a view to finding out its weaknesses and endeavouring to discover a way to stabilised profit. Records will be kept of feeding, breeding and length of time when to reach profitable quality. In all a concerted effort will be made to discover weaknesses in management and best methods of feeding. There is much room for an investigation of this nature, and it is to be hoped that the outcome will be a greater stabilisation of production in the Dominion.