A breeding farm of British Berkshire pigs’ great-grandprogency (GGP) was born at Sakaki town in Nagano prefecture. The farm was started for the first time in Japan by “BB (British Berkshire) Farm” of a limited company Kurobuta-Shinko Agency (Black Swine Promotion Agency) based at Kagoshima prefecture.
Berkshire pigs imported from UK (Sakaki town, Nagano prefecture)
BB Farm plans to begin sales of Berkshire pig’s semen in this month. At the farm, some sows have been conceived, which will enable the company to ship piglets to the market next July.
Berkshire is one of pig breeds originating from the county of Berkshire in Britain, which is characterized by its better quality of meat, although its size is not so big.
The BB Farm purchased five heads of hog and 10 heads of sow from UK last December.
The Farm set up a facility for collecting semen for artificial insemination and applied for the sales license.
Sales of the semen as well as male and female piglets are to be promoted from the supply base of the company in Nagano prefecture for livestock farmers in the country.
It is expected that piglets will be supplied to the market with a price of 200,000 yen per male piglet and 150,000 yen per female piglet.
The Berkshire breed currently occupies 8 to 10 percent of breeding hogs in Japan.