guess I hang out with a lot of different pig farmers at market....much like good chefs they will experiment to some extent. One of my MO pig buddies formed a 55 member pork co-op that has been selling pork to D'Artagnon....thus numerous chefs in NY. His background is animal genetics....I've been told that duroqs are very mean piggies.
this is a pretty cool article about him/small farm pigs.
St. Louis News - The Pope of Pork: In tiny towns across Missouri, old-school hog farming stages a comeback — and at tables across the nation, diners rejoice - page 1
Karlios Hienkebein is the pig farmer that supplies me with pork more than the others....mountain of a man, this guy used to throw 150# of pig over his shoulders and hike up the 3 flights of stairs to my last catering kitchen. It's awe inspiring to watch this humble German farmer work. Great tasty pig, you don't need anything more than alittle salt and a hot pan.....some mostarda or chutney are it's cooked.
His are a tammworth/chester blend. Just got off the phone with Karlios and he said his tammworth boar is 5 years old and still going strong. Litters are between 10-12 piglets, he breeds throughout hot summers, is an outdoor pig winter and summer which apparently is rare....the dark meat will take smoke better. Chesters produce a larger loin eye....berkshires don't breed well with others (that's straight from Karlios).
Good pork is a beautiful thing.
Varietals 
