Local swine shipped to China
Local swine shipped to China
Posted: Wednesday, November 6, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 7:22 am, Wed Nov 6, 2013.
From Staff Reports
ALBION — A Noble County agricultural enterprise continues to ship its products to China.
Last month, Whiteshire Hamroc, based in rural Albion, exported its largest international shipment of swine breeding stock to China.
The latest shipment consisted of 1,180 pigs representing three of the four major breeds of swine in the United States: Yorkshire, Landrace and Duroc.
This was not the first nor will it be the last shipment of Indiana-bred hogs headed to China, the world’s most populous country, officials of the company said.
Whiteshire Hamroc has made several previous shipments of live animals to China, but the Oct. 14 shipment is the largest for the Noble County company. The shipments are coordinated for Whiteshire Hamroc by Clayton Agri-Marketing of Jefferson City, Mo.
A specially equipped cargo plane was used to transport the hogs out of a Chicago airport, after they were trucked to Chicago from Noble County.
The Chinese government has endorsed the project because American farms, such as Whiteshire Hamroc, are considered the world’s foremost experts in swine genetics.
Whiteshire Hamroc is the largest U.S. recorder of Yorkshire, Landrace, Duroc and Hampshire combined, according to the National Swine Registry 2012 recordings. Whiteshire Hamroc has been exporting swine breeding stock for more than 20 years to more than 22 different countries and started its relationship with the Chinese about three years ago.
“International interest in U.S. swine genetics continues to grow and represent a larger percentage of Whiteshire Hamroc’s business,” said Dr. Mike Lemmon, CEO of Whiteshire Hamroc. “We are very active within the Chinese market, with Whiteshire Hamroc having an office and support staff in Beijing, China.”
Whiteshire Hamroc plans to export several additional shipments of swine breeding stock to China over the next several months, Lemmon said.
