§ Sir P. Hurdasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will make a statement about the progress of the pig club movement and say what steps are being taken to encourage still further this important aid to food production?
Mr. HudsonThe development of the pig club movement has been entrusted to the Small Pig Keepers' Council, which is representative of leading agricultural and rural organisations and is aided by an Exchequer grant. The Council launched an intensive publicity campaign at the end of May last and has registered 235 pig clubs to date. These clubs comprise some 6,500 members in all, and they are at present rearing 5,000 pigs. Their yearly throughput may be assumed to be about 10,000 pigs. There are already clubs in 35 counties of England and Wales, the largest numbers being in Surrey, Hertfordshire, and Lincolnshire. New clubs are steadily being formed. The clubs are of two types: the association of individual pig keepers which has been the traditional farm of the village club; and the co-operative club, consisting of a number of persons owning the pigs jointly and keeping them all together in one place. Many co-operative clubs have been formed in and around towns and cities in connection with industrial and commercial firms, the staffs of municipal authorities, Civil Defence posts, schools, allotment societies, sports clubs, etc.; and the Council is at present engaged in a vigorous drive to form further clubs attached to works and factories where available supplies of edible waste are not already being utilised by the farming community. The Council has prepared a series of advisory leaflets for pig clubs and intending pig keepers. Arrangements have been made to provide registered clubs with a fair share of the supplies of meal available for pigs with which to supplement the edible waste on which the animals are mainly fed; and clubs have also been afforded special facilities for the slaughter and disposal of their pigs.