Profile View of the American Landrace
History of the American Landrace
The American Landrace can trace its history and lineage back to when the Danish Landrace was engineered in 1895 Denmark. They imported a group of Large White Pigs from throughout England and cross bred them with pigs native to the Denmark area. The hogs that came from this crossbreeding led to Denmark becoming the number one exporter of bacon in the world.
The United States wanted to take advantage of this genetic lineage, so in 1934 the U.S. Department of Agriculture purchased two dozen Danish Landraces for their own crossbreeding projects. There was one stipulation though, as they could not use the imported hogs to create their own purebred commercial stock. Luckily for the U.S., Denmark decided to remove that stipulation in 1949 when the USDA officially made the request to their Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In turn, this led to the creation of the American Landrace Association just a year later in 1950.
Advancement of Genetic Profile
The association at this point starting breeding the stock that would become the earliest version of the today’s American Landrace. They decided they would only allow hogs that were purebred Danish Landrace or that had a small percentage (one-sixteenth to one-sixty-fourth) of Polish China blood to be the foundation of the stock.
With the limited number of hogs that qualified to be registered for the association, the Department of Agriculture purchased 38 total hogs of that carried Sweden, Norwegian, & Danish Landrace blood. Introducing these various Landrace breeds, they were able to add a more diverse genetic profile to the American Landrace bloodline.
Characteristics of the American Landrace
The American Landrace shares similar physical characteristics to the Chester White. They have longer than average size bodies compared to most breeds, shown by the fact they can have 16 or 17 ribs. These long bodies lead to a large concentration of their carcass weight being held in their loins & hams.
The arch of their back is less pronounced and can almost be flat. Their hair and skin must be white, but a few freckles are allowed on the skin, any dark spots or dark hair is not.
| Boar | Sow | |
| Weight | 500lbs – 700lbs / 226kg – 318kg | 450lbs – 600lbs / 204kg – 272kg |
Sows are known for being fantastic mothers, but more so for not reaching peak milk production until 5 weeks after they begin lactating. This is later than most breeds and allows for a longer period that they can feed their large litter sizes. The extended milk production comes in handy as sows can birth up to 15 piglets in a litter.
The average lifespan for the breed is anywhere from 10 – 15 years when raised as pets. It is much shorter for any that are raised as market hogs, where slaughter age is six months.
There are a couple of faults with the breed that can lead to complications in its lifetime. A lesser issue is their tendency to have weak legs or legs that splay, which can lead to mobility issues as they grow. The more sever issue is their susceptible to nervous disorders, such as PSS (Porcine Stress Syndrome).
Other Facts
- There are over 15 different Landrace breeds registered today
- Denmark for many years refused to export purebred Landrace breeding stock to make sure it held its reign as chief bacon exporter in the world
- The breed has earned the nickname of “America’s Sowherd” due to its mothering & milk abilities