The greater the lean meat percentage, the higher the value of the carcase' Lean tools offer hope for UK's pigmeat producers The hard pressed British pig industry has been offered two new tools to help it compete against imports. The first, unveiled on the eve of the National Pig and Poultry Fair at Stoneleigh, is a new pig line. The second is the proposed introduction by processor George Adams and Sons of Lincolnshire, of the Danish developed AutoFOM method of assessing lean meat content of carcases by ultrasonics. The new pig sire line, the Cotswold Titan, was launched by the new British breeding company JSR Genetics, which has just taken over the Cotswold Pig Development Company less than two years after it also absorbed Newsham Hybrid Pigs of York. It is said to enable pig farmers to produce pigs at heavier weights with a high lean meat percentage with a great proportion in the high value cuts. Adams will be encouraging its contracted producers to give it a go. The urgent need for increased carcase weight and a fairer method of grading was highlighted by Mark Haighton, the company's pig development manager. The traditional method of assessing lean by measuring fat by the P2 probe system was falling out of favour due to error susceptibility. "To be competitive with our European counterparts, UK processors are looking to measure accurately overall carcase lean meat yields. The greater the lean meat percentage, the higher the value of the carcase to the processor." AutoFOM provides a three dimensional image of the pig carcase and its composition, enabling saleable cuts to be predicted and offering fairer returns to producers. "Rewarding producers for the presence of lean, as opposed to the absence of fat, has the potential to revolutionise the UK pig industry," said Haighton. {{MEAT }}