American Yorkshire
 At the Oregon State Fair | |
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| Country of origin | United States |
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The American Yorkshire is an American breed of large domestic pig. It is the most numerous pig breed in the United States.[3]: 14 It derives from pigs of the British Large White or Yorkshire breed imported from the United Kingdom or from Canada at various times from about 1830 to the mid-twentieth century.
History
The Yorkshire was the traditional pig of the county of the same name in northern England. Some pigs were imported under this name to the United States in about 1830. They were large and white, and – untypically – had large lop-ears; some of them at least may in fact have been from Lincolnshire rather than Yorkshire. Within a short time these were seen in Minnesota and, under a variety of names, in Ohio.[4]: 538
A stock company with the name American Yorkshire Club was started in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1893,[a] and a herd-book was begun. The first volume of this, published in 1901, listed 1264 animals; of these, approximately 40% were of the Small Yorkshire breed of small pig.[4]: 539 The first boar registered in the new herd-book had been imported from Canada, purchased from the Ontario Agricultural College; Canada was the source of most Yorkshire imports at this time.[4]: 539 The third edition of the herd-book in 1906 held animals registered in thirty-nine different states; the fifth edition of 1915 listed over 5300 pigs, of which only a handful were of the Small Yorkshire or Middle Yorkshire breeds.[4]: 539
Notes
- ^ It was re-organised as a breed association in 1948, and the office moved to Valparaiso, Indiana[5]
References
- ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ Breed data sheet: Yorkshire / United States of America (Pig). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed January 2022.
- ^ Harvey D. Blackburn, Terry Stewart, Don Bixby, Paul Siegal, Eric Bradford (2003). United States of America: Country Report for FAO's State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources. Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture; National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation; National Animal Germplasm Program. Annex to: Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 10 January 2017.
- ^ a b c d Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
- ^ Ideal Yorkshire Features. National Swine Registry. Accessed January 2022.
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