IKHR is pleased to be moving ahead in conjunction with International Kunekune Pork Producers to take our carcass merit initiative to the next level.

Many livestock breeds are marketed on carcass merit. This has prompted greater interest in breeding and feeding animals that produce desirable carcasses. Improving carcass merit starts with genetic selection in choosing parents based on carcass traits.

The initiative aims to enable IKHR registered breeders and pork producers the opportunity to unlock valuable information within their breeding herds. This information will aid in improving carcass output in market animals and selecting optimal breeding specimens to move a breeding program forward.

The first tool we are introducing is agricultural ultrasound to assess loin depth and back fat thickness.

IKHR is sanctioning ultrasound technicians throughout the US and Canada for ultrasound services to ensure consistency. We have also laid out parameters for these measurements – hogs must be 1 year of age when measurements are obtained and technicians will be collecting a measurement of loin depth, back fat thickness and weight. This data will then be provided directly to IKHR and plugged into our BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction) system to calculate results. These results will then be relayed back to our breeders.

Hogs participating in this portion of carcass merit will have the opportunity to earn a 200 in 12 stamp on their pedigree, which will certify that the hog has met this milestone.

A pilot project for this program has been running at Ivanleigh Farms in Ontario, Canada for over 8 years and counting. Ivanleigh Farms is the first farm in North America, and most likely the world, to utilize agriculture ultrasound for breed optimization and carcass merit in the Kunekune Hog Breed.

The benefits to participating in such a program are proven and the IKHR is pleased to be able to offer it to other breeding programs. Currently there are sanctioned ultrasound technicians located in Ontario (CAN), Iowa (US), and Montana (US) with talks happening in other locals. The IKHR is focusing efforts to sanction ultrasound technicians in provinces and states in which breeders who are part of the International Kunekune Pork Producers reside.

For more information, please contact IKHR directly at internationalkunekuneregistry@gmail.com