Nice Book on Pigs and America

There's a neat book about America and the hog business, "Hog Ties", by Richard P. Horwitz.

Although Dr. Horwitz is a professor of American studies, he moonlighted on a hog/cattle/grain farm for 20 years.

I agree with this review of the first edition of the book at Amazon:

It is a very thoughtful look at American culture through the porthole of the relationship of people to pigs.

Many people have commented on the plight of "family farmers" as affected by "integrated" agriculture, but they either have a political agenda or little real understanding. In this case, tremendous effort is made by the author to understand the business of pigs and pork, and changes in society and the pig industry. This description of the swine industry is a studied, objective viewpoint, even if it is incidental to the real purpose of the book.

Mainly, the book is a unique study of human beings and relationships to each other and other species, including pathogens. The book contains thought-provoking observations on life, death, culture, agriculture, multiculture, and communication.

Dr. Horwitz points out a lot of things that most pork eaters don't know. One of the biggest mistakes that people can make is to assume that hogs are just like humans:

Hogs present and additional challenge in that they plainly are different enough from people that projections of the "if-I-were-one" sort are a radical stretch. Try as I might, for example, I cannot fully imagine being drawn to the smell of shit or engaging in other grossities that pigs normally elect when given a chance. Like most people who sing the song, I can more readily imagine "swinging on a star." But perhaps hogs under extreme conditions put out such clear signals that wholesale leaps of imagination are not required. The challenge might be a bit of translation rather than projection.

When, for instance, you walk into any swine barn, you are bound to see hogs chomping on the steel bars of their pens. Scrunch, scrunch, grunt, scrunch, over and over again. What does this "chewing behavior" mean? What does it tell us about, say, the animal's welfare or respect for its rights?

The Humane Farming Association, claiming support from "agricultural scientists" who study such things, says they know. Chewing is a "temporary measure of releief from the torment of crate confinement." It is "abnormal ...simply the desperate expression of frustrated animals pushed ot the point of madness ...[that] resembles, in many respects, the development in humans of chronic psychiatric disorders."

Mangalitsas cheek-to-jowl, crowding fence.

Since I am neither an animal scientist nor a psychiatrist, I may be handicapped here, but this is not the sort of interpretation that experience seems to counsel. I regularly see hogs (and "cribbing" horses) engage in such "endorphin-releasing stereotypes" in wide-open fields. Although the sows on the old-timey farm next-door have about a quarter-acre apiece to roam around, they ordinarily crowd together ("cheeck-to-jowl," as people have been saying for decades before confinement was an issue) and chomp on the panels in one corner. Chewing on gates is a common enough pastime to suggest an analogy closer to biting your nails than banging your head against a wall.

I could understand why Bay Area vegetarians might leap to alarming conclusions, but I find it hard to believe that people who well know pigs would respond in kind. In fact, I was unable to find the "agricultural scientists" to whom the Humane Farming Association referred. The association's director would not respond to my telephone calls and letters requesting citations. In searching for those citations, what I found instead was strong support for my common sense. John McGlone, probably the single most respected pig specialist among animal behaviorists in the United States, monitored a controlled comparison at his research center at Texas Tech University and concluded: "Outdoor sows spend as much time chewing rock and chewing in the air as indoor sows spend chewing bars... We conclude from our studies that both behaviors are normal."

Google Books allows you to preview the book.

Mangalitsa: Realy Expensive Pig Grease

Here you can see some Mangalitsa fat selling for €9,95 per 150 grams -- that's a mere $42/lb - and that's in a place where Iberico is for sale too.

Mangalitsa-Berkshire Cross Pork, Iberian Pig Breeding Programme (1999)

Crossbred Mangalitsa Hogs in Europe

We'll have pork from Mangalitsa and Mangalitsa-Berkshire (50%-50%) market hogs at the farmers market very soon.

It will be interesting to see what people prefer. In the future, we'll have 100%, 75% and 50% Mangalitsa market hogs. My guess a while back was that we'd be selling a lot of 75% Mangalitsa hogs. As in Europe, those would probably get described (by wholesalers or restaurants) as "Mangalitsa", while the 100% stuff would show up on menus as "purebred Mangalitsa".

Purebred Mangalitsa isn't for everyone.

We don't have to produce many 50% Mangalitsa hogs - unless there's demand for them. You need them in order to produce 50/50 females that can produce 75/25 market animals. The 50/50 males are a byproduct. If it is ever feasible to sex pig semen, it will make it possible to avoid producing pigs of the undesired sex. Those wanting to produce females for breeding will be able to avoid the production of unwanted males, and those wanting to produce barrows for fattening outdoors will be able to avoid females, who are harder to neuter than males.

Bazna swine - leaner than a Mangalitsa.

It is hard to know what to do with the 50/50 hogs - their very existence makes it hard to make the 75% and 100% Mangalitsa seem so special. But for many consumers, the 50-50 hog may be the most appropriate - instead of eating a hog from the 1920s (the Mangalitsa), the hog of the 1940s (the 50% Mangalitsa) may be a better fit. Perhaps the right thing to do is to come up with a name (e.g. Bazna) and market those 50-50 hogs that way. Don't even bring up the word "Mangalitsa" in conjunction with them.

Experience from Spain suggests purebred Mangalitsa won't find a huge market. I found a document on the web about the Iberian pig breeding program. It starts on page 510. The Of course, the Spanish breeding system has been modernized, so things have probably changed quite a bit.

Like the other document, it mentions that the super-lardy hairless Iberian varieties are so uneconomic they are in danger of disappearing. The best hope for them is using them to produce crossbred market hogs. That's similar to the Pietrain's role. A super-muscled breed, the Pietrain is so lean that most people don't want to eat it. Its major role is in crossbreeding programs, like the hairless Iberico.

Pietrain - famously bad eating.

The fact that a breed is mostly good for crossbreeding doesn't mean that it is doomed. The Iberian breed is doing well, despite it being used in crossbreeding programs. If the Mangalitsa achieves anwhere near the success in America that the Iberico has achieve in Spain, even if it is via crossbreeding, the breed will be on very stable footing.

Mangalitsa Is Lardier and Tastier than Most Iberico

Lampiño: Best Tasting Iberico Variety, Lardiest Carcasses, Least Profligate

There's a nice article, "Iberian Pig Production: The Problems of Success", available online. You can get the full text here. This is very practical information for anyone wanting to finish Mangalitsa outdoors on mast. The "problems" the title alludes to are the apparent contradictions I've been exploring recently.

This article, among other things, explains the breeding programs and the various feeding programs - what, how much and when. Some may be surprised to find the emphasis on feeding things like antioxidants and metals like copper, to improve fat quality. That's completely in keeping with the Spanish achieving quality and containing costs with science. The use of farrowing crates (also mentioned) greatly reduces the cost of piglets, by ensuring that more of them avoid death by crushing.

I've heard the Mangalitsa described as better tasting than Iberico - by an expert who has eaten a lot of both. I was skeptical.

Having read the article, I learned there are different strains of Iberico, and some are leaner and more profligate than others. The Mangalitsa sounds a lot like the "Lampiño" (hairless) strain - super lardy, not very profligate and good at fattening on pasture. There's a picture of it at the top.

Here's a Spanish-language page on the different strains of Iberian Blacks, including the Lampiño (Spanish and English translation). That Lampiño looks like a Mangalitsa sow that's lost all her hair; the proportions look roughly the same. E.g. short back, small feet and short legs (the better to carry all the fat):

Mangalitsa: Incredible Tasting, Lardy Carcass, Low Profligacy

In the past, most Iberico I've seen have looked a bit longer. Those guys are so long, I you wonder how their back or legs can hold up. My back hurts when I look at them:

These Iberico look like they belong in a "Far Side" Cartoon

I've seen other comparisons of the Mangalitsa to the Iberian swine;

The Mangalica has the highest percentage of fat among pigs raised in Spain. This fat content makes its hams and loins mature very slowly into a ham with exceptionally rich aromas and flavor. Mangalica production is very limited...

One reason Mangalitsa production is so limited as that almost nobody is willing to pay for the fat, in the same way that there's not much purebred Wagyu production (relative to the Wagyu-cross production).

Not all Mangalitsa products get made slowly. Spitzbart makes his cured Mangalitsa products relatively quickly. The hogs were raised mostly indoors, then finished outside. He wet cures his meat, which gets the job done without trouble.

I love watching the hogs run, especially the really fat one.

Mr. Faul, one of the most innovative Mangalitsa breeders, proposed making mini salamis from his Mangalitsa. That's not a traditional "artisanal" product - but it would be easily produced and marketed, allowing him to make some money off his hogs.

"Seattle" Wrote about Me and the Pigs

With my favorite Pigs

The magazine "Seattle" wrote about me and the pigs. I'm happy they noticed!

Wooly Pigs' herd is expanding. The next big step is selling more Mangalitsa across the USA, particulary the East Coast.

Our move of the nucleus herd to the Midwest allow us to better serve the whole US, while our Washington operation allows us to serve the West Coast. Sold to the right people the right way, Mangalitsa is a product like no other.

If you want to distribute Mangalitsa pork or fatten and sell Mangalitsa hogs in your area, please contact me at hp@woolypigs.com.

Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes

There's a new book by Jennifer McLagan, "Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes" - available from Amazon.


I've not read the book.

The chapter on pork fat is entitled, "pork fat: The King". In America, Mangalitsa, finished in the best possible way, provides the king of pork fats.

Mangalitsa Sow's Loin

Of the various animals whose fat we consume, pork is special due to the amazing control that we have over the fat quality. By raising special breeds of hogs (lard-type hogs) in special ways, we can produce some of the world's best fat. This is better understood in Europe than in the USA.

Mangalitsa: The Spanish Connection

Mangalitsa pork travels 1800 miles for processing.

I recently posted about Mr. Toth saving the Mangalitsa.

I simplified things too much. Here's a more complete version.

After the fall of communism in Hungary, the Mangalitsa pigs were in danger of extinction. As unprofitable pigs, people couldn't afford to keep them. Mr. Toth was working in Spain for Mr. Moisés Olmos, the founder of Jamones Segovia.

The Mangalitsa is one of the few breeds of pig like the Iberico. Mr. Olmos, an Iberico processor, recognized this, and most importantly, was willing to invest money in Hungary in order to save the breed.

Their firm swept in and gathered up all the Mangalitsa they could and started raising them for the Spanish market. Mr. Toth's company handless the pig production, breed preservation, etc. Mr. Olmos's, the processing. Mr. Olmos is an amazing innovator: not only did he save the Mangalitsa, but his company is the first company to export USDA-inspected jamon iberico to the USA. He's been honored for this in Spain (Spanish or English translation). They are now even selling Mangalitsa products in Japan.

Had Olmos and Toth not saved the Mangalitsa, the breed would be extinct. The Mangalitsa wouldn't be in America and Red Mountain Farms wouldn't be raising the best pork in America.


A few points:

• Carbonero el Mayor, Spain is 1800* miles from Debrecen. Those pig parts are moving across nearly all of Western Europe to reach the Spanish processing. In the minds of Europeans, 1800 miles is, a huge distance - they might as well be producing those pigs in Russia.
  

• Until recently, it always seemed funny to me that it was the Spanish who saved the Mangalitsa. Why not the Austrians, Germans, Italians or French? They all have cured meat industries and are a lot closer. Austria in particular has very close ties to Hungary, due to their shared history.
  

Now that I've been in the Mangalitsa business for a while, it all makes sense:

Although most countries in Western Europe are closer to Hungary than Spain - and many of those countries have big (and in some cases, world-famous) cured meat sectors - but they lacked the expertise and quality-focus of the Spanish.

The Spanish firms produce the world's best cured pork products. At times, they use methods that seem at odds with the free-range finish of their best hogs - but if you know pork production, they make sense. The Spanish are the ones who produce the best stuff wholesale; they need the raw material.

Having studied this story and attempted to market Mangalitsa in America for a while, a few things are clear:

• Had I just imported Iberico hogs to the USA, instead of Mangalitsa, I probably would have had a much easier time. There's been so much Iberico PR that, as the sole importer, I'd be sitting pretty.
  

• Mr. Olmos's firm, Pick or any other European processor will probably begin processing Mangalitsa in America before any established American firms - and that includes the "artisanal" ones. Just as the Spanish were the first to seize the Mangalitsa opportunity, Europeans will probably beat Americans to the punch. They've got the expertise, quality focus, capital, and long investment horizon to make it work.
  

*The Spanish buying up the Hungarian production is an example of a "buy quality" policy (as opposed to "buy local") saving an entire breed of pig. If the Spanish had insisted on sourcing their pigs closer to home they'd not only have been stuck with inferior pork, but the Mangalitsa breed would have died out. Buying locally produced goods - particularly those that travel well - usually means missing out on the best. Sometimes buying locally means buying mediocre.

Wild Salmon and Iberico Production Innovations

"Wild salmon" start here.

In a recent post, I explored some of the details of modern iberico production. Not surprisingly, as demand for iberico products has soared, there's been an economic incentive to produce as much iberico as possible. Producers have responded by using a variety of innovations, some controversial. As described in this article:

The extensive pig production in Spain is traditionally characterised by: the use of the Iberian pig, an autochthonous breed perfectly integrated into the environment in which they have developed; a long duration of the productive cycle for about 23–24 months; a high level of animal welfare level, specially in the fattening process with freedom of movement and feeding base on natural sources: acorns and grass, and an equilibrated “dehesa” agro-forestry system where this activity has been developed. Nowadays, the introduction of more intensificated methods due to the increasing demand led to important changes, such as: the shortening of the productive cycle (10–12 months); freeing from the territorial base; changes during the fattening period, fattening with mixed feed and less animal freedom. All these facts may implicate a loss of the animal welfare condition. These circumstances lead us to question it from an ethical point of view.

A key limiting factor is the efficiency of the Iberian sows at weaning pigs. The obvious response is to run a hybrid system: run the breeding stock with modern methods and get the most Iberian pigs on the ground, then finish them with more or less traditional methods that bring a high price.

The methods designed to produce the most weaned pigs seem to be in conflict with the free-range finishing that some of them experience*, but it is a direct consequence of pig biology and consumer demand.

The same thing has happened with "wild salmon".

The best salmon is wild salmon. It tastes the best and costs much more than farmed salmon. But - and this isn't well known - a lot of those "wild salmon" start their lives in fish hatcheries. After they are mature and ready to go out in the world (an analogous stage for the pig would be a started pig), they enter a more tradtional production system (the ocean, for Iberian swine, the Dehesa).

The more you look at it, the more sense it makes. With both salmon and Iberico, there's the potential to produce many offspring in a generation, but in the wild (or primitive production systems), a good fraction of them aren't going to make it.

Whether or not it is ultimately good or bad that people use these innovations, it is clear that they allow us to produce a lot more super-premium food without losing on quality. A lot of innovation in food (e.g. TV dinners) is anti-quality, but the ones that impact reproduction efficiency aren't.

The contrast between how the animals start out (controlled environment geared to maximum production) versus how they wind up is so surprising. If you saw only the start or the finish, you'd never guess what was going on.

* There are too many Iberico hogs each year to finish them free-range.

An Email from The Savior of the Mangalitsa

Peter Toth is the man responsible for saving the Mangalitsa breed from extinction.

In the chaotic period after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Mangalitsa almost vanished. The socialist government had supported the breed for decades, but with the end of socialism, there wasn't any money. The natural thing for people to do was to kill the last few pigs and make kolbasz out of them.

Mr. Toth's firm, Olmos és Tóth Kft, bought all the stock they could and started producing for the Spanish market. It was natural that the Spanish processors would buy the Mangalitsa raw material, due to the Mangalitsa being very similar (but more fatty) than their own Iberico.

I sent him an email about Red Mountain Farm in California, and he reported that he's very happy with their success. The Mangalitsa is also doing very well in the other new market, Japan.