American Landrace
The American Landrace is an American breed of domestic pig. It is white in color, with a long body, fine hair, a long snout and heavy, drooping ears. Like all landrace pigs, it derives from the Danish Landrace. The breed association, the American Landrace Association, is one of four that constitute the National Swine Registry, together with the associations for the American Yorkshire, the Duroc and the Hampshire. It is the fourth-most numerous pig of the United States after those three breeds.
History
The American Landrace derives from the Danish Landrace, which in turn derives from cross-breeding in the late nineteenth century between local Danish pigs and Large White stock imported from Britain. In 1934 twenty-four of these pigs were imported from Denmark by the United States Department of Agriculture for cross-breeding and research purposes, with a condition that they not be used to create a purebred commercial stock. That restriction was lifted in 1949 and a breed association, the American Landrace Association, was established in 1950. The new breed was founded on stock that was either purebred Danish or had a small percentage of Poland China blood. To reduce inbreeding, thirty-eight pigs of Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Landrace descent were imported in 1954 from Norway.The breed association is one of four that constitute the National Swine Registry, together with the associations for the American Yorkshire, the Duroc and the Hampshire. In 2016 it was the fourth-most numerous pig of the United States after those three breeds. A total population of head was reported for 2023, down from a high of reached in 2017. The conservation status of the breed in 2025 was "not at risk".