When recording your pigs, please keep in mind the National Swine Registry has requirements for all purebred sires. These standards help maintain the integrity of the breeds and ensure that proper DNA specifications have been met on sires.
If you artificially inseminated your sow with purchased semen, you will need to contact the boar stud where you obtained the semen and request an AI certificate before recording your litter. To submit the request, the stud will need to have your 2-4 letter Herdmark. If you have not been set up with a Herdmark yet, please contact the National Swine Registry. Once you request this, the boar stud will issue your AI certificate directly to the NSR. When you turn in the litter registration application, NSR will use your Herdmark to match the AI certificate with the litter.
When requesting an AI certificate, please remember to ask the boar stud for the sire’s registration number and ear notch. You will need this information to record your litter. The use of AI certificates helps ensure that litters are being recorded out of the correct sires. Also, since the boar stud is required to provide a ship date from when they sold the semen to the breeder, it helps ensure litters are being recorded with the accurate farrowing dates.
If you use your own boar for breeding within your herd, you will need to make sure he meets the proper DNA sire requirements. The NSR requires all sires to have a DNA card banked, and all sires used must test negative for the Stress gene. To do this, simply order a DNA card from the NSR and fill out the boar’s ear notch and registration number on the card. You may use blood or semen as DNA samples. After putting blood or semen on the blotter card, let it dry for 24 hours and send the card back to NSR. You can find more information by visiting the DNA sire requirementpage of our website.
Following these requirements helps ensure the integrity of the Yorkshire, Hampshire, Landrace, and Duroc breeds.
Whitney Hosier
Hampshire/Landrace/DNA Secretary