A contemporary group is a set of animals of the same breed, or cross, managed together under the same conditions. A contemporary group might consist of boars of the same breed farrowed during a one week period and fed a common ration in the same building. These pigs are similar in age, identical in sex and breed and therefore, we expect them to respond to unknown environmental effects similarly. They are also raised together with the same effects of feed, weather, health and management. How the data is collected and type of measurement equipment used is also important.
Contemporary groups help to standardize non-genetic effects.
Limited comparisons can be made of animals in the same contemporary group. When ranking the five boars in Table 2 on actual backfat, boar A or B is selected first, followed by D, C and E. However, there are other environmental factors that need to be adjusted for, like weight at probing. Unadjusted and adjusted backfat on five boars. Boar ID Actual Backfat Weight at Probing Adjusted 1,2 backfat at 230 lbs. The contemporary group average on 40 boars was .75 inch.