A comparison of large white, landrace and hybrid pigs

Abstract

Large White, Landrace, and Hybrid breeding stock (and the crosses between them) account for most pigs produced in Australia. Performance information for these 3 breeds (obtained from the NSW Boar Performance Test Station) was analysed for a 5-year period (March 1986-June 1991). At the commencement of the comparison, Landrace boars were significantly slower growing than Hybrid boars, significantly fatter than Large White boars, and had a significantly poorer feed conversion ratio than both breeds. There were no differences by the end of the comparison. During the 5-year period, Landrace boars showed a significant improvement in the Test Index relative to the other 2 breeds, being equal to them in overall genetic merit at the end of the comparison. For all 3 breeds, the Test Index improved substantially over this period; however, this observation was made in the absence of control populations. Despite an increase in growth rate during the assessment period (40-90 kg liveweight), there was no decrease in age at 40 kg.