•   EXTINCT BREED  •

Lincoln Red Pigs

A Rare Breed of New Zealand Origin

A first cross Lincoln Red x Large White sow with her litter. (Courtesy lincoln.recollect.co.nz.)

The Lincoln Red breed of pigs was developed by P. G. Stevens at the Lincoln Agricultural College (now Lincoln University) where he was a lecturer from 1938 to 1960.

The project was probably started in the late 1930s by crossing selected Large White and Tamworth pigs to retain the best qualities of both breeds. The resulting animal resembled a Large White pig but had the red colouring of the Tamworth. By the early 1940s the breed had been stabilised and was being made available to pig breeders in Canterbury.

In 1949 Lincoln Red pigs took a leading place in the bacon competitions held by the Canterbury District Pig Council, with exhibited carcases coming from as far away as the West Coast and Nelson scoring 80% to 90% of the possible points for carcase quality.

By 1952 Lincoln Red pigs could be found in most parts of the South Island and as far north as Waikato in the North Island, then in 1958 the Lincoln Agricultural College announced the following:

There were said to be “plenty of them about” in 1961 but nevertheless, in the bacon competition held by the Canterbury District Pig Council that year no Lincoln Reds were listed amongst the prize-winners, their place being taken mostly by Large Whites and the newly imported Landrace breeds.