Stephen F. Austin State University

FORT WORTH -- Breeders of Berkshires are making silk purses out of sows’ ears — or butts.

These porkers may not be the prettiest pigs in the barnyard, but when it’s time to eat, you want a Berkshire.

Buying this tasty meat in the United States is difficult, however, because the economics of commercial pig production force the public to settle for a product that doesn’t score as high in flavor.

"There is not a whole lot of difference, but it’s a difference you want," said Jason Hardin, an agriculture teacher at Denton Guyer High School who said comparing other pigs to Berkshires is like "sirloin versus rib-eye."

Erin Brown, animal science professor at Stephen F. Austin State University, said the meat "marbles very well, the way that Angus does. You think of it being tender and juicy."

The English Berkshire pigs are one of the oldest breeds, Brown said, considered aristocrats in the hog world. They mature earlier than other pigs, packing on the pounds.

But Berkshires are less prolific than other pigs, yielding smaller litters. And for commercial growers, that means less money, Brown said.

"When you have a commercial operation, two more pigs per sow times 1,000 sows, that’s a lot of piglets, more marketable product," Brown said.

But Berkshires make good mamas, mature faster and taste better, said Hardin, who also judges hogs. "The commercial guys are looking for numbers," he said. "Berkshire guys are looking for quality."

That’s why you won’t find Berkshire bacon on your plate anytime soon. Unless you’re in Japan, you probably won’t savor any of this elite meat.

The less-than-svelte black-and-white pigs have not gotten the reputation that Angus beef has — except in Japan, where Berkshires are called kurobuta, or black hog.

"We market a lot of our Berkshires to Japan as premium product, Berkshire Gold," Brown said. "The Japanese want a good-quality product. That’s why they want these.

"Most of the pork we get in stores is commercial, so it’s Yorkshires or Landraces or those crosses," Brown said.

With their jowly faces, Berkshires don’t even get respect in the show ring. And they don’t stack up well against the cute Chester Whites and Yorkshires.

"They don’t win the major shows," breeder Kristi Thompson of Farmersville said. "They won’t win against the crossbreds because they don’t have the muscle."

At the Stock Show, Berkshires don’t even rate their own show, instead being tossed into today’s Black/Other Purebred show with the Poland Chinas and Spotted Poland Chinas.

"There’s not enough of them in Texas to have their own show," said Gary Rosenbusch, an agriculture teacher from Glen Rose.

Hardin, who gets his Berkshires from Iowa, said he can count on two hands the number of Texans breeding Berkshires. And those are for showing, not sausage.