bacon factory
There appears to have been, for want of better words, a ‘bacon factory’ set up and operating in Katanning around 1917. It was set up during the Australian General Strike which affected shipping operating between Western Australia and the Eastern States. This meant there was a shortage of supplies including bacon. Small factories began popping up around the state to fill the shortage. However, it seems the Katanning concern was facing difficulties from the start and the following report appeared in the “West Australian” in its 17 November 1917 edition.
(Photo below added by me. I have been unable to locate any further information on the bacon factory so I’m assuming the venture did not survive the report – ed.)
KATANNING BACON FACTORY.
INITIAL DIFFICULTIES
SUGGESTIONS FOR PIG GROWERS
By W. C.Grasby.
West Australian Newspaper
Saturday17 November 1917
THE proposal to start a bacon factory at Katanning had been considered for, some time and when, five or six months ago, the condition of the-pig market rendered it urgently necessary to take action at once in order to deal with the surplus of pigs about which so many farmers were complaining, the enthusiastic promoters started before they were ready.
Farmers had been told that there was much money in pigs. They had been urged to take up pig breeding, and very many had done so only to find that when they had raised the pigs they could not sell them at a profit.
With most commendable patriotism and enthusiasm, the Co-operative Company started killing and curing pigs on July 6 last (1917). At first from 15 to 20 pigs a week were dealt with, which was all that could be done in the limited, entirely unsuitable, accommodation then available. About six weeks ago the company took two shops in Katanning, and since then has dealt with about 60 pigs a week, so that up to the present time it has found a market for 400 and 500 pigs, which would otherwise have been to a large extent unsaleable.
When the shipping trouble came upon this State, rendering it difficult to supplies from the East, the existence of the Katanning factory was of great value in providing a supply of bacon for the consumer.
During a visit to the Katanning Show, Mr. Wm. Nicholls, the secretary, and Mr. J. Wormald, the bacon curer, who comes from several generations of bacon carers in Yorkshire and in Warrnambool, Victoria, kindly took me over the so-called factory. They, discussed the conditions under which they were working and requested me, as did also Mr. Thomson M.L.A., and other residents, to write A Free Criticism of the position as I saw it.
This is a invidious and delicate task which, in the circumstances, one would not undertake except at the express request of those interested, and then only with the object of endeavouring to point out to shareholders and others, who are new to the pig business, that in order to ensure success more or less drastic reforms must be carried out. I have been asked not to mince matters, and I am making these preliminary remarks chiefly in order to impress upon the reader the fact my remarks are in every way sympathetic and friendly.
An inspection of the bacon and hams exhibited at Katanning Show and those hung in the shop which goes under the name of the factory, enabled one to pick out a few hams and sides of bacon which were worthy of being placed alongside the product of the best factories. Two hams in particular hanging in the factory were, except for a slight bruise, just about perfect in size, shape, neatness,and general appearance. Unfortunately, there were only a few such specimens of what Mr. Wormald can turn out. The average product of the factory is nondescript, low-grade bacon.
People seem to have the idea that the magic words “Co-operative Factory” will perform miracles. The sooner they learn that they won’t the better. A factory, whether it be co-operative or otherwise cannot make good bacon out of pigs which are totally unfit for the purpose. To call a place a co-operative factory will not take the place of proper buildings and equipment. The premises called the factory are quite unsuitable for a modern bacon factory, and the vats leak and will not hold the pickle, so that what has been accomplished is highly commendable. The shipping trouble is over, the summer is upon us, and it seems like tempting fate for a bacon factory to think of carrying on operations with the present supplies of pigs and the present equipment.
Messrs Nicholls and Wormald impress one as being thoroughly in earnest and as knowing what they are about. They appear to be resourceful, and it will not be fair if disaster occurs to lay the blame upon their shoulders. Those who know most about the bacon business and are properly acquainted with the climatic conditions of Western Australia, believe that it is impossible to carry on a bacon factory without refrigeration even in suitable, and decently equipped premises during our summer months. An experienced man like Mr. Wormald may be able, by taking double trouble and precautions, which should not be necessary, to go on making bacon through the summer, but they will always have staring him in the face the possibility of a week of muggy weather coming upon him when he has the meat of a few score pigs in its initial stages of curing. Is it wise on the part of the directors to risk the loss which must ensue under such conditions?
I was informed that only from five to seven per cent of the pigs which have been sent to the factory could be considered suitable for the purpose of making reasonably good bacon. Pigs have been sent in varying in weight from 60 lb (27 kg) to over 500 lb (227 kg). The farmer may not have realised the fact, but he will have to understand that bacon makers know their business when they say that the range of weight for a bacon pig is from 125 lb (57 kg) to 165 lb (75 kg).
An example of bacon curing during the early 1900’s.
It is a fact that experienced men insist on a certain type of pig of pig for bacon purposes. It must not only be of the right type, but it must be of the right degree of fatness. It must be fat all over; and our farmers appear to require a tremendous amount of education in this respect. Mr. Watson, of Fremantle, who has probably had as much experience in bacon making in Western Australia as anyone, and who has cured for several years from 70 to 100 pigs a week, has said that not ten percent of the pigs he has been able to buy, even when they were of the right type and size, were fat enough for killing, and in connection with the factory he runs a fattening establishment, where he tops up the pigs before killing.
Opportunity for Education Missed.
At the Katanning Show a first prize of three guineas ($6.30) and a second prize of 30s ($3.00) were offered for baconers in killing condition, and it was printed in the catalogue that the most suitable weight for baconers was 185 lb (84 kg), to dress about 125 lb (57 kg). The factory management penned a suitable pig at the show with the notice drawing the attention of visitors to the type, size and so forth. In spite of the facts just stated, the judge awarded first prize to a nondescript breeding sow in young which Mr. Wormald said would dress over 200 lb (91 kg)., although in poor condition. It seems utterly wrong that in face of the facts mentioned the society should be called upon to pay prize money for such a pig, and that visitors to the show should see an entirely unsuitable animal ticketed, as the winner of a first prize as a baconer. It is such ridiculous things which bring agricultural shows into contempt.
Suggestions.
1. The directors should at once set about erecting a plain, substantial, simple, but effective slaughterhouse and factory; properly equipped with refrigerating plant. It is utterly impossible to carry on bacon curing successfully, especially in warm weather, when the killing is done a mile and a half (2.4 km) away from tile curing. In this connection it may be mentioned that the suppliers have been in the habit of bringing in pigs slaughtered and supposed to have been cleaned on their own farms. Recently three pigs were sent to the factory three days after killing. This would have been bad enough in any case, but these particular pigs had been badly killed and badly dressed. It has been a fairly common thing for pigs to be brought to the factory after being killed from 24 to 36 hours. Some of these pigs have been badly bled, some have been so mutilated in the stick in that the shoulders have proved comparatively worthless. Suppliers must learn that the only foundation for good bacon is a good pig.
2. Until the proper equipment can be provided the utmost caution should be exercised in regard to curing operations. If the factory is a benevolent institution it can go on buying pigs, killing and curing during the summer, and running the risk of loss. If it is a business proposition it will be better to say at once, “No more pigs will be bought or cured until we have proper provisions for dealing with them.”
3. The directors should let farmers know definitely that the price paid for pigs will be according to the kind of pig and its fitness for immediate manufacture into bacon. This will probably result in a number of farmers going out of pig keeping, but if a man does not understand the business and won’t learn, then the sooner that takes place the better for himself and the industry. It cannot be too clearly realised that if we are to have a pig raising and bacon industry in Western Australia it has got to be conducted on the lines proved to be necessary in other places. The bacon produce of Western Australia will have to compete with the product of the factories in the Eastern States. No amount of co-operation will induce the ordinary consumer of bacon to buy an article which does not appeal to him when he can get one that does. In the straits of necessity, he will take anything he can get, but a pig production has been booming in the Eastern States, pork and bacon are rapidly falling in price, and the factories here will have to compete. They have the protection of freight, but that is all, and a big factory will save that easily in its economical methods of working.
4. Before closing I would venture to suggest to those people who are discussing the multiplication of small co-operative factories all over the State whether that is really the wise course to adopt. It seems to me that it would be very much preferable to all join together in establishing a strong well-equipped central establishment adjacent to the markets at Midland Junction, where cost of production can be reduced to the minimum and where pigs can he drawn from all parts of the agricultural areas. I was given to understand that pigs had been sent from the Great Southern down to Midland Junction, bought by the Katanning Bacon Factory, and railed back again to Katanning to keep things going. I cannot vouch for this, but it was given to me as a fact.
More Reading…
There appears to have been a few attempts to produce bacon in Katanning, including the ill-fated bacon factory in 1917. The attached story appeared in the 17 November 1906 edition of the Western Mail (Perth) where a splendid collection of bacon was shown by Mr. C. F. Wanke at the Katanning Show. Continue reading
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