These programs evaluate many traits together. Traits of reproduction, gain, carcass quality, meat quality, nutritional content of pork, and eating quality have been included in the evaluation.
National programs evaluate genetic lines for their use in producing crossbred market hogs.
The genetic lines to be evaluated are those commercially available to pork producers. The resulting unbiased information assists producers in finding combinations of breeds and lines to design hogs for future markets and make pork the meat of choice. This approach reduces the wild swings in hog type that have resulted from programs which emphasized only a few traits. Most of the current information that exists about meat quality, nutritional content, and eating quality traits of genetic lines resulted from the Terminal Sire Line National Genetic Evaluation Program, National Barrow Show Line Progeny Tests, Quality Lean Growth Modeling Project and Maternal Line National Genetic Evaluation Program.