Apart from a few small farms—often run as a secondary occupation—hardly any larger breeding or fattening operations are currently involved in the professional husbandry of this breed. The main objective of this scientific work was to consolidate activities surrounding the Berkshire breed with the long-term goal of establishing and maintaining a herd book. The necessary support for this was provided by the Austrian breeding company “ PIG Austria GmbH ”.
Interest in pig breeds with defined characteristics is noticeably increasing. While until a few years ago the goal was to produce animals for fattening that were as uniform as possible, a greater diversification is now evident. Besides well-known " alternative breeds" such as Duroc or Swabian-Hall pigs, the demand for other breeds is rising sharply.
The initial idea for establishing a herd book for Berkshire pigs arose from discussions with a renowned restaurateur. To particularly high-quality bacon products , Berkshire boars were to be imported from Germany and prepared for further breeding there. It soon became apparent that by no means every black pig was actually a Berkshire pig. Due to the lack of legal breeding regulations, it was difficult to prove the purebred lineage of the animals. Therefore, if one wants to guarantee the exceptional meat quality combined with the positive character traits that this purebred breed promises in Germany, irrefutable proof of pedigree is essential.
To enable the future establishment and regulated breeding of the Berkshire pig, breeding guidelines be developed. The creation of a herd book offers interested farms new opportunities and better access to breeding stock than before. Since there has been no structured breeding program for this breed to date, the work presented here and the resulting set of rules represent pioneering work in the field of herd book breeding. The primary purpose of this work and its output are to support Austrian agriculture.
Purebred animals in Wels/Thalheim
The first purebred Berkshire pigs were transferred from Germany to Austria in 2018. These were two intact boars from the "Namajira" bloodline. One of the two animals (Randy) has been located at the Thalheim/Wels branch of the Institute for Organic Agriculture since January 1, 2019. In 2022, two purebred Berkshire gilts of the "Mermaid" bloodline were purchased from a German herdbook breeder and transferred to Austria. To further develop the purebred breeding program, fresh semen from the "Peter Lad" line was imported from Ireland and used to inseminate one of the sows (of the "Mermaid" line) kept on the farm. One gilt and two young boars from the resulting litter remained at the Thalheim location for further breeding.
niche product Berkshire meat
Despite its many positive meat and fat characteristics , the Berkshire pig must be classified as a fatty breed. Purebred Berkshire pigs yield no more than 42% lean meat and have a considerable fat cover . This makes the meat unsuitable for the mass market; Berkshire meat products are clearly a niche product. Nevertheless, the meat and fat of the Berkshire pig are ideally suited for producing top-quality foods with unparalleled product quality. The high proportion of intramuscular fat, , gives Berkshire meat its exquisite flavor and exceptional tenderness.
Caption: Fat layer and intramuscular fat as shown in a slice of long loin; air-dried loin bacon (130 kg cold carcass weight) and fresh (70 kg cold carcass weight; from left to right); both pieces come from purebred Berkshire pigs
Further research
To increase meat yield with a slightly reduced fat cover, initial trials have already been conducted with Berkshire crossbred animals , and the offspring have been sold to interested fatteners and direct marketers. So far, breeding purebred Berkshire sows with semen from a terminal Pietrain boar has appeared to be the most promising approach to generating suitable fattening animals. A planned follow-up project will focus intensively on the meat and fat quality of such crossbred animals in order to offer an optimal fattening pig for the production of high-quality pork with a distinctive brand identity.
Female crossbred pig (mother breed: Berkshire x father breed: Pietrain) weighing approximately 90 kg. Short legs, pronounced cheeks, and the breed-typical cylindrical shape are evident, but there is significantly more muscle mass than in a purebred Berkshire pig
Conclusion and Outlook
With the completion of the "BERKY" project, a herd book for the Berkshire breed has been successfully . With the active support of the breeding organization PIG Austria , a breeding program was developed and the first breeding animals were registered in the herd book. In addition to the in-house insemination station located in Wels/Thalheim, two further pig farms in Upper Austria were also registered as herd book farms. Currently, the Austrian herd book for the Berkshire breed comprises nine sows and four boars of different bloodlines. Both locally and internationally, these black pigs are enjoying increasing popularity. Our research team strives to provide expert answers to the ongoing questions surrounding this topic and to network the stakeholders where appropriate and feasible.
You can find more information here
Episode: “A culinary delight deluxe - the irresistible taste experience of Berkshire pork!”
QR code for the podcast of the series "Agricultural Science: Knowledge in brief"
The complete final report on the “Berky” project can be accessed https://dafne.at/projekte/berky
