From where to Import Iberico Pigs and what about Large Blacks?

Hi all,

as the business plan for our farm gets tighten and many concepts are made in beforehand,
we are still struggling with the livestock.
Our dream would be to have some Iberico pigs as they are almost or even are unique in Thailand.

Beside standing off the crowd with many things, these Iberico pigs are perfect for our planned pastures, like to stay outside, are moderate to good tillers and deliver quite marbled and fat meat which is in Thailand preferred to lean stuff
- and who knows may be we hit another wave of posh quality with our Silvopasture mix even we don't expect this too much.

Now, who knows places or farms that are specialized in this breed and do export them as well?
Online we found Kentuckycattlerange.com but they are somehow not that keen to reply on our mail, I guess we are to small as customer and not worthy to reply on request mails.

Question to other pig farmers:
it would be interesting if they have been ever crossbred with large blacks and what was the outcome?

No worries, they belong to a friend who always tries to build Rolls Royce door locks into a Beetle and then want to sell it as "original copy" Rolls Royce.
If we could get hands on Iberian Pigs we sure not even would think of cross them with anything else than Durocs and Berkshires and also this only in case we cannot avoid inbreed and need fresh blood whilst we can't find a new Iberico boar.

But thanks to anyone who can help here to find a seller and exporter of life piglets, gilts and boars.

Hi See.

I think you'll find it much easier to buy  Black Iberian boar semen internationally for use on appropriate sows you get locally. Shipping live animals is difficult and stressful for the animals, and both difficulty and stress levels rise with the size of the animal.

Apart from that, you'd have to do your homework to make sure that you're dealing with reputable pig breeders, and that you're likely to end up with the desired result.

Breeding a local sow, an appropriate one that you get from nearby, who would be familiar with the forage you want them to eat and could easily teach her piglets, would probably result in greater adaptation of Iberico pigs. Do you know what breeds of pig are available where you are?

As to Large Blacks, they're sun-adapted, so that's a plus, but honestly, unless they're close by, it's not going to be cheap, necessarily, to get a live animal shipped. So if you want specific genetics, I would go with shipped boar semen, and make sure that the sows you select have complementary traits to those you're seeking.

Honestly, though, there are specific reasons why these things are worth money. If you aren't living in, or replicating, an oak savannah for them to roam, the returns are much less than that given for purebred Black Iberian foraged on acorn, much less what can be gotten for region-of-origin-appropriate product.

Which is not to say you can't do it. I'm just saying that looking at what you've listed as goals suggests to me that you might have a clearer path forward using, at least in part, local genetics. Also, whatever you do, it's going to matter how, exactly, the pigs are foraged and treated. In today's media market, someone good enough might be able to sell pampered, forage-fed pigs, that are slaughtered on-site, without enduring the stress of a truck or abbatoir, and processed and aged after the Iberian fashion, as the next Kobe (or whatever) beef.

Take what you intend to be the good that you bring to it, maybe a multitrophic oak savannah polyculture that they roam, or maybe a focus on how you engage and eliminate stressors in these animals' lives, or maybe they get a hyper-local version of the Kobe beef's sake massage, and maybe those could be the aspects of your business that make you unique in your market.

And you still get to lean on the Black Iberian genetics, if you can find them and they work in your specific microclimate, for whatever advantage it may yield. As mentioned, where, how, and on what the animal is foraged, and how much is supplemented, greatly affects the price of jimon iberico.

But keep us posted, and good luck.

-CK

Thanks Chris,

I have prepared about 100 Tahitian Chestnut trees which are close to be cut into single node cuttings that would multiply them the the amount I want and still its not my intend to become a famous Iberico Bellota Farmer.
I my history I had many jobs in Spain and even a Sunday roast with simple grass fed Iberico Pork was unbeatable in taste and it is the best pork I ever tasted in my life.

The Breeds here in Thailand are mainly the Pakchong 5 which is a good fatty meat and beside of this I have contacted a farm who has Duroc, Landrace, Large White and Pietrain.
My homework done is that Pietrain here locally is too overbred and prone to pig stress syndrome.
Large White and Landrace are sure some kind of pig which would suit by focusing on fat and hams but even with a lot of trees the sun is nasty here in Isaan Area.

And a full yes:
Duroc is the one I eyeball with and here I thank you for your advise Chris.
I have read much about crossbreeding Duroc and Iberico and the great outcome.

My reasons are actually
- standing off the crowd and be the only one having Iberico in Thailand.
- Ibericos are great foragers while Durocs are sure more weight and giving as good hams.
- BUT Durocs are the dark Tanks in the Pig world and know how to plow a food forest into shreds, which makes me worried
- there are more points that speak clearly for Iberico Pigs.....

But I must admit that your advise is not crossing my thoughts at all. I was thinking the same way since I plan my farm.

Freight stress as pigs never forget. They sure will after the journey not climb overexcited into a trailer like my father in law's pigs when they moved or just brought to some green fields along lakes.
The really love driving around and there is no queuing when the trailer ramp goes down.  

I agree too, I never know what I really get when these animals arrive.
I might be better off to step back and get a Duroc Sow and Import some Iberico Sperms from well knows Sirs.
Going though some Generations I could sure slowly get the Duroc away from our tree roots and the outcome would be more Iberico like.

I also have to focus on my wife, who had as child a proper brawl with a local boar and it is hard to hold a 57Kg Thai woman in rage back,
so I better might look for a docile character pig seen with my own eyes, instead of somebody's e-mail saying it's a house pet and at the end its a berserker delieverd.

There are some points Chris that speaks for your opinions and I am always happy when somebody helps me getting off from a silly idea which even my 2nd sense tells me too.

Great Forum here isn't it?

Thanks and keep your opinions coming

Will (See's husband)