ABSTRACT
Genetic improvement of the efficiency of pork production has been the focus of swine geneticists at least as far back as the 1930s. The USDA Regional Swine Breeding Laboratory was established at Ames, Iowa, in 1937 under the leadership of Dr. W.A. Craft. That laboratory, along with animal geneticists at several US land-grant universities, established the ways that principles of genetic improvement would be utilized for the improvement of efficiency of pork production for next several decades (Craft, 1958). In 1974, geneticists, extension personnel, test station managers and interested pork industry leaders started the National Swine Improvement Federation which continues to the present in its efforts to provide tools for genetic improvement to pork producers.
