DEVELOPING THE PIG INDUSTRY

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 370, 26 February 1937, Page 3

DEVELOPING THE PIG INDUSTRY

HINTS TO FARMERS ON THE PRODUCTION OF GOOD

LITTERS.

Department of Agriculture Notes by M. J. Scott, 8.A.,8.5c.

Pig production, differs from other animal projects in a numbers of ways that are quite obvious to most people. Because many have failed to appreciate the importance or meaning of these differences pigs are often unpopular, and have acquired a bad name that is hardly in keeping with the fact that they provide more of the world’s meat for human conttimiption than any other animal does. It Is of some interest to discuss these attributes of pig-keeping and to correct some of the wrong inferences that have been drawn from them in the past. Rigs: Economical Converters or Greedy! Figs more so than other animals are fed by hand, i.e., they gather relatively little of their own feed from the paddocks. As a result their capacity to eat' is well known. At any stage of their life they can put on large quantities of fat, and fat requires two and a half times as much feed for every pound stored, a? lean does. In fattening, pigs, like all other anltnakt; replace the water in their cells with fat, and so do not increase very much in weight or size as they become primer. The feed they get is' often expensive grain, and hetice ft is not an unnatural reaction on'the part of the owner to describe them as greedy when there is little visible increase for a heavy expenditure on feed. Actually pigs of ah animals are the most economical converter? of feed. They may convert 51b of feed into one pound of meat, whereas cattle require up to 81b and sheep up to 121 b of feed for every pourd of meat they produce. This, however, as a counter to the idea that pigs are greedy animals, is a trifle misleading since pigs require mainly concentrates (high-priced feeds), whe-rieas cattle and sheep can use fibrous (lov-priced) feed. Ths pig lias a relatively simple stomach and cannot use large quantities of fibrous feeds as efficiently as the other domestic animal? can. Few breeders force them to do so, but some do try and use the lowpriced fibrous feeds in quantities that are excessive.

Pigs Hard to Fence. Next, pigs are .kept in sties, and are there often underfed or kept in store condition. In the sty they cannot offer any effective protest in this treatment, and as a result man begins to believe he can underfeed pigs without any reaction on their part. He gets a„ surprise when he underfeeds them in a paddock. They naturally look for feed elsewhere and he objects to them because they are hard to fence. Where they are well fed they are not difficult to fence, but the best of fences will not confine them when they are short of feed or, more especially, of viater. Pigs as Scavengers. Pigs eat all kinds of refuse and as a reFult one or two round a homestead are quite useful scavengers. Because the food supply of these is costless such pigs are profitably kept, and many farmery are encouraged to keep more pigs with the same kind of accommodation, and with the same expectation of profit per head.' The results are always disappointing and as a consequence of this kind of experience one often hears the remark that there is nothing in pigs.

Under the circumstances it is usually true that there is nothing in pigs, but at the same time when attention is given to all the necessary details pigs may be the most profitable of animal ventures. As a scavenger the pig was l useful on the ' dairy-farm where milk was a Waste product and the pig a “drain pipe down which this waste was poured in spring and summer.’* These ideas ; were both inimical to pig profits and i of late years’ they are being slo*wly put into the background. Costs of Feed Supply Although milk is a costless feed supply it is nevertheless* one of very high quality, a foundation upon which one can build a cheap feed supply by the use of an almost equivalent quantity of cheap home-grown feeds. The Written word has probably delayed this building by repeating the fact that pigs require grain with milk.

i£ milk is to be used to best advantage, from the point of view of quality of carcase, and' rate of growth. While this is true, it is also true that the price of pork has to be much higher than 6d per lb before any profits arise from the abundant use of grain- at present prices for grain. Since pigs produce two litters per year, .they differ from all other animals whOte natural increase and period of production occurring once a year may be made to coincide with nature’s ’yearly period of fodder production. The double peak of big production. calls for an especially well organised feed supply, and cannot be profitably met by getting only one litter- per sow. as Was generally attempted in the initial stages in New Zealand. This same prolificacy maker it easy to increase or decrease pig numbers and from the investigation of the Pig Marketing Board in England there appears to be a periodical change in pig numbers that results in few pigs and high prices for pork coinciding with low prices for feeds,, or many pigs and low prices for pork, coinciding with highpriced feed stuff?. This change takes place every 21 months and is probably the most effective bar to any real expansion of the industry.

Insufficient Capital Invested in Pigs. Finally on account of the organisation, attention to detail, and skill required in the industry there are relatively few who are keen on pigfarming, and as a result capital invested in the industry is not a realisable asset. There is a disinclination on the part of pig-raisers to spend money on equipment and conveniences, and the industry makes relatively slow progress under a serious handicap of insufficient and pobr sties and shelters, and disappointing result? for time spent. There may be £3,000 to £4,000 of capital invested in a 50-cow dairy-farm that provides £3OO to £4OO by way of wages or profit to the owner, whereas 10 sows on the same farm producing £lOO by ■v.'ay of wages or profit involve an additional capital outlay of not more than £lOO. More capital must surely be invested in pigs as soon as the advantages of better conveniences are appreciated, and the returns for capital so invested are visualised.