Bygone Days: Crisis facing pigs with difficulties of marketing of a favoured breed (1930)

The general opinion was in favour of a pig that was a cross between the York and the Large White Ulster breeds. The Large Ulster pig is was held to be “too fat and too easily marked”, and the present day demand was “for lean bacon and ham, both here and across the water”.

Writing on the matter the News Letter’s special correspondent stated: “A great deal interest has been aroused among those concerned the Irish pig industry by several letters that have appeared within the last few days in the correspondence columns of the Belfast News Letter.

“These letters dealt with the merits the Large While Ulster pig, as compared with the pig of the York breed and the correspondence was begun by Mr R J Allam, whose firm is engaged the livestock trade in a very large way in Belfast.

“Mr Allam condemned the Large While Ulster pig as unsuitable for the home or export trade, because of the amount soft fat is carries, and advocated greater production of the York pig, which has big proportion lean meat.

“There is an idea among those not in touch with the agricultural industry that the Irish pig trade is something that goes on steadily from year’s end to year’s end on well-defined lines, and that the farmer, however much may lose upon his crops or his cattle his sheep, can always cast kindly eye towards his pigs and declare that ‘There’s the gentlemen that pay the rent’.

“But that is not so. The pig trade in Ulster seems to haphazard sort business, and Mr Allam’s letter expresses the view of those who feel that it must be placed on better lines. Their opinion is that the Ulster farmers must cease to feed the Large White Ulster pig, and feed, for preference, pig that is first cross between the Ulster and the York.”

The correspondent continued: “The Large White Ulster is not only a fat pig and a soft pig but a thin-skinned pig, and when a drove them arc put on shipboard for transport to England the bites, scratches, and bruises they receive route show clearly on their hides.

“The English buyers are unable to dispose profitably of these scarred pigs, and so the Large White Ulster has gained reputation for being bad traveller.”

They added ample evidence of the attitude of English buyers to the Large White Ulster breed.

One English firm of buyers had written to an Irish seller as follows: “We are at the moment experiencing the greatest difficulty disposing all of smooth-skinned Ulster pigs future they will have to be sold according to the condition which they arrive.”

In another letter the same firm stated: “The question White Ulster pigs has become acute with us. It is an absolute impossibility to make top price with them. We can sell fifty hairy pigs with less trouble than one White Ulster.”

Whilst an extract from a third letter read: “The White Ulster pig is not worth a penny more than sow price, and if your feeders continue feeding, they will have to take the consequences.”

In a fourth letter the buyers declared that they had not now a single customer that would “take smooth-skinned White Ulsters”, which, they said, “seemed to do much more fighting in transit than hairy pigs”.

According to other letters from England, the question of the profitability of the White Ulster would have become acute earlier than it has “but for a shortage of pigs that facilitated the sale of the Ulster breed”; but it was believed that until the end of the year “there will be over-production”.

The correspondent presented the view of local curers to the breed, they wrote: “When I spoke yesterday a member of a big Irish curing firm, he declared himself as thoroughly favour of the York cross - that is, a cross between a York boar and a White Ulster sow.

“This makes the ideal pig, he said, and ought to be fed on barley, for it was possible to get a fat York when the animal was given too much yellow meal.

“The White Ulster, said this curer, is too fat, and very often curer have to trim several pounds of hams, and the price they receive for such trimmings represents loss of about 1s 3d per lb.

“Also, the head of the average White Ulster weighs some 16lbs, whereas the head the average York weighs 10lbs, so that there again there is loss for the curer. It appears, that practically all the local curers are in favour of the lean pig, and hope to bring the farmer round to feeding in time.”