Pedigree Portal: NSR Sire Requirements

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 requirement page of our website.

Following these requirements helps ensure the integrity of the Yorkshire, Hampshire, Landrace, and Duroc breeds.

 If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

 Good luck to all of you headed to the Fall Classic!

 

Whitney Hosier
Hampshire/Landrace/DNA Secretary

Pedigree Portal: How to Register a Litter

One question we are often asked in the Pedigree department is how to record a litter. For those of you who may be registering your pigs for the first time, I wanted to put together some information to help you get started. 

First, you will need to make sure you have been set up with a Herdmark. You can acquire a Herdmark by contacting the NSR office here. A Herdmark is a second form of identification that goes in the front of the name of each pig you record.

We allow you to record as a Member of the NSR or as a NonMember. Members receive discounted litter rates and a one year subscription to the Seedstock Edge magazine, along with voting privileges. If you are interested in becoming a member, visit the Pedigree Section of our website and click on ‘NSR Member Application’ or simply click here.

If the dam of your litter was artificially inseminated, you will need to contact the boar stud where you purchased the semen and ask them to issue an AI certificate. This is sent directly to us and will be matched with your litter once we receive your work.

If your sow was bred naturally by your herd boar, please send a DNA sample to the NSR prior to registering litters to complete the blood banking and the stress testing requirements.   

Now, you are ready to record your litter! There are two ways to do this: 

1.     Download a litter application from our members only page, then click on:  Registration Application & Sow Productivity Data Form. Fill this out then mail it in to the NSR office. In this same portion of the website, you can also download an NSR fee structure for prices; this will give you an idea of how much money to send with your litter.

2.     Record your litter online. Simply call the NSR and ask to be set up to record litters online.

Once your litter is recorded, as long as we have received all the necessary information, your pedigrees will be mailed to you.

If you ever have questions, just give us a call at 765-463-3594.  

Good luck!

Whitney Hosier