Swine History

Paintings and carvings of pigs that are over 25,000 years old have been found. Pigs were a popular subject for statuettes in ancient Persia. Pigs were among the first animals to be domesticated. The Chinese domesticated pigs over 7,000 years ago. From the middle East, pigs spread across Asia, Europe, and Africa. Pork, the meat from pigs, was widely consumed throughout the ancient world and the Roman Empire.

When William the Conqueror ascended to the throne of England in 1066, he decreed that anyone shooting a wild boar would be punished with the loss of their eyes. In 1080 A.D., pigs were trained to help hunters after the King forbade commoners from using dogs to hunt. By the beginning of the 16th Century, pigs had become much more numerous in England. In towns, the owners of pigs kept their pigs in sties and tended to the pigs themselves, rather than having a swine herder take them out to feed in the forests as had been done in earlier times.

In the 1770's, Chinese hogs were imported into England. For years, the Royal Family kept a large herd of Berkshire hogs at Windsor Castle. The first hog in the world to ever be recorded in a swine registry was the boar, Ace of Spades, bred by Queen Victoria of England. The record was made in 1875.

Swine were first introduced in North America by the explorer Hernando de Soto who brought 13 pigs to the Florida mainland. On his second voyage, Columbus brought red pigs to America. These early pigs were from Spain and Portugal. Pigs were also brought into the United States from the Guinea coast of Africa on early slave trading vessels.

There are eight major swine breeds in the United States today: Duroc, Landrace, Chester White, Poland China, Berkshire, Spots, Yorkshire, and Hampshire. The Hampshire, Berkshire, and Yorkshire trace their American roots back to England.

The Hampshire breed was imported to America from Hampshire County in England between 1825 and 1835. There is also a Hampshire breed of sheep that was developed in England and imported into the United States.

The Berkshire breed is a pure breed that can be traced back to pigs imported directly from established English herds. A boar named "Windsor Castle" was imported into the United States in 1841. In 1875, the American Berkshire Association recorded the first swine registered in the world - the "Ace of Spades", the boar bred by Queen Victoria.

Yorkshire pigs are thought to have been brought to the United States to Ohio around 1830. The first Yorkshire sow registered in the United States was named "Thomas Hester".

Today, pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world. China is both the top-producing country of pork and ranks first in pork consumption. The United States, which produces 10% of the world's supply of pork, ranks third in pork production.