PORK 



Market hog production in Montana is a strong and growing industry. 

 Its strength and aggressiveness is supported by a high level of manage- 

 ment experience and substantial numbers of young producers, many of 

 whom are college graduates, entering the industry on a permanent basis. 



The Montana Pork Producers Council, a producer's organization, is 

 active in helping these producers through education and market development 

 projects. Efforts by the Council are serving the industry in achieving 

 its full potential . 



Montana has quality hogs and therefore produces superior pork 

 carcasses. Data from the "National Barrow Show" and the "Montana 

 Northern International Livestock Exposition" provides a quantitative 

 comparison of quality factors. The top 49 hogs at the national show 

 compared to the top ten animals in the Montana competition is as 

 follows : 



National Montana 



Inches of back fat 1.20 1.18 



Square inches of 



loin eye 5 .48 5.29 



Percent of ham 16.0 17.1 



In addition, 85 percent of four full loads of hogs in a recent carcass 

 project were in U.S. Grades 1 and 2, which is above average quality. 



Pork production in Montana is increasing. From 1950 to 1965 the 

 pig crop fluctuated around 250,000 head per year. From 1969 to 1973 

 the pig crop ranged from 319,000 to a high of 430,000 in 1971 to 

 301,000 in 1974. 



Approximately one-half of the 301,000 hogs produced in Montana in 

 1974 were shipped out-of-state, either live or as pork. It requires 

 about 226,000 hogs to produce the pork consumed in the state each year. 

 Due primarily to the marketing structure of United States supermarkets, 

 a large portion of this local demand is supplied by processed pork 

 imported from Midwest sources. Thus, Montana is in a solid net export 

 position able to serve new markets. 



New varieties of barley are being developed by the Montana Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station which are more efficient and require less 

 supplements for hog rations. Tests in several of the new varieties 

 have exhibited improved growth and efficiency in pigs. Such new tech- 

 nologies in association with Montana's barley production, whidi averages 

 50 million bushels per year, provide an excellent input resource base 



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