The Belgian Landrace, also known as the Improved Belgian, Belgian Improved Landrace, and the Belgian Lop-eared, is a
breed
A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...
of
domestic pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
from northern
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. It was created from importing English breeds and improving them until they were "graded up" to the
German Improved Landrace from 1930 to 1945 and then breeding them with the
Dutch Landrace in 1945. Other breeds were also incorporated into the bloodline to strengthen it, such as with ones from
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
in 1955,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in 1971, and the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
in 1974. Used in many different countries, the Belgian Landrace is also one of the "four major commercial breeds" in France.
Breeding
Because the Belgian Landrace breed is well known for its pork production, it is often bred with other breeds to increase the overall quality of the pork. It is known for being more heavily muscled than other breeds and for being considerably large,
along with having a consequent "lower fat content".
A significant amount of ongoing testing has been conducted in the past few decades to maximize the amount of high quality lean and minimize the amount of fat on the breed. There are "eight stations testing over 5,000 pigs per year to isolate those strains capable of further improvement."
In order for the breed to go to sale in Belgium, Belgian Landrace
sows are often bred with
Piétrain boars
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is n ...
, which improves the quality of the Belgian breed. The offspring are then bred back into the main Belgian Landrace line, bringing with them the better quality of pork.
The meat it produces is lean and tender.
Description
The Belgian Landrace has been described as "a muscular white breed with heavy drooping ears."
They are shorter in a number of characteristics in comparison with other Landrace breeds, but are also "a very practical type that are sound in feet and legs, have good fertility, perform well in confinement, are good mothers and milk well until early weaning".
See also
*
List of domestic pig breeds
There are hundreds of breeds of the domestic pig ''(Sus scrofa domesticus)''.
List with classification and standards
See also
* List of sheep breeds
* List of goat breeds
* List of cattle breeds
* Lists of domestic animal breeds
Reference ...
References
{{Landrace pig breeds navbox
Pig breeds originating in Belgium
Pig breeds