Raising Kunekune Pigs for Lard Production

A guide to producing high-quality lard: feeding, selecting stock, care, and rendering basics.

Kunekunes are a heritage lard-type pig, so usable fat can be an important part of the carcass rather than an unwanted byproduct. Good lard production, however, is not the same thing as deliberately making a pig obese. Genetics, age, healthy body condition, feeding, and processor instructions all affect how much usable fat comes back from a pig.

Start With a Healthy Pig, Not an Over-Fat Pig

A farm handler wearing a cap bends beside a mature cream-and-black spotted Kunekune in a grassy fenced pasture and places one hand along the pig's back while assessing its body condition. — Check body condition and comfortable movement before choosing a processing finish; the goal is a healthy pig, not maximum body fat.

AKKPS describes the Kunekune as a heritage lard breed and gives a 200-pound pig as an example in which around 15 pounds of fat may be set aside, including leaf fat and back fat. That is an example, not a guaranteed yield; individual pigs and cutting instructions vary. [1]

The breed standard puts health first and says a pig's overall weight should allow it to remain comfortable and able to run. That is the right target for pigs being raised for pork or lard as well: useful finish without sacrificing mobility, health, reproduction, or general welfare. [2]

Wanting rendered fat does not justify letting a pig become uncomfortably overconditioned. The body-condition scoring guide offers a repeatable way to watch condition and mobility while the animal is being finished.

Feeding for Lard Still Means Feeding a Balanced Swine Diet

Two mature Kunekune pigs, one reddish brown and one cream with black patches, eat supplemental feed from a long low wooden trough on straw beside a barn and fenced paddock. — Pasture and forage can support the feeding system, but the pigs still need a nutritionally balanced swine ration.

Do not build a “lard diet” around added fats, random grain, or kitchen scraps. Pigs require a balanced supply of energy, amino acids, minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids, and water. Energy density affects both growth and carcass fat, but increasing calories without maintaining nutrient balance can create an over-conditioned pig rather than better pork. [3]

Pasture can be valuable in a Kunekune system, but pasture does not replace a nutritionally complete swine ration. Penn State's pasture-swine guidance likewise emphasizes feeding a complete diet rather than expecting forage to meet all nutritional needs. [4]

For the broader BF Farm feeding approach, see the Complete Kunekune Pig Feeding Guide.

If grazing is seasonally limited, the ration still needs to meet the pig's real nutritional needs. The feeding pigs without constant pasture explains how to plan appropriate feed without assuming that more concentrate always produces a better outcome.

Body Condition Matters More Than Chasing a Fat Number

Evaluate the whole pig: movement, feet and legs, appetite, growth, topline, ribs, belly, and general condition. Two Kunekunes at the same live weight can differ in frame, muscling, fat distribution, and usable yield. Avoid treating a round appearance as proof that a pig is at the ideal processing condition.

Tell the Processor You Want the Fat Back

A farm producer in a dark jacket and brown cap reviews a clipboard beside carefully arranged pork chops, roasts, belly portions and wrapped cuts near a chest freezer, with pigs in a pasture behind. — Before processing, specify whether you want leaf fat, back fat or both returned separately, and how they should be packed.

If lard is part of your goal, discuss it before processing. Ask whether the processor can return leaf fat and back fat separately and how those choices affect the rest of the cutting instructions. AKKPS's pork-cut terminology distinguishes leaf fat from back fat, which is useful language when talking with a butcher. [5]

BF Farm's Kunekune Pig Processing Guide explains the larger processing conversation, including age, weight, cutting choices, and what to ask your processor.

Ask the butcher to record which fat is being saved and how it will be packaged. The freezer-yield guide helps distinguish the hanging carcass from the final product list so nothing is counted twice in the freezer estimate.

Leaf Fat and Back Fat Are Useful for Different Purposes

Illustrative close-up on a butcher counter showing loose pale folds of leaf-type pork fat on the left stainless tray and a firm rectangular slab of pork back fat with a thin skin rind on the right tray. — Illustrative comparison: loose internal leaf-type fat (left) and a firmer slab of back fat (right). Actual cuts and appearance vary; confirm which fat the processor returns.

Leaf fat is the softer internal fat around the kidneys and loin area. Back fat sits under the skin along the back. Many cooks prefer rendered leaf fat for pastry and baking because it can be relatively mild, while back fat is often used for general-purpose lard, sausage making, or other pork preparations.

How the fat tastes and performs depends on the animal, feed, trimming, handling, rendering, and storage. Do not promise a particular flavor, texture, or quantity from breed name alone.

Rendering Is a Food-Handling Step

Illustrative kitchen scene of small pieces of pork fat cooking in a stainless-steel saucepan, a fine-mesh strainer collecting browned solids above another pan, and a glass jar containing pale finished lard. — Rendering turns trimmed fat into cooking fat, but clean handling, proper storage and reliable food-safety instructions still matter.

Once the processor returns the fat, keep it cold and clean and use a food-safe rendering method. If you are selling rendered lard rather than using it at home, check the food-processing and labeling requirements that apply where you live before offering it for sale.

Fat quality, storage, and preparation are kitchen concerns as much as animal-selection concerns. The pork cuts and cooking guide puts rendered fat alongside other practical uses for Kunekune pork; follow recognized food-safety guidance for handling and storage.

Practical Takeaway

Kunekunes can provide valuable cooking fat, but the goal should be a healthy, properly finished pig—not maximum fat at any cost. Feed a balanced swine diet, use pasture appropriately, monitor body condition, and make clear cutting instructions with the processor so the fat you want is saved.

About the Author

Mark Bengtson approaches lard production from the livestock side—breed fit, feeding, finish, and whether the animal makes sense for the farm's end goal. Yield, fat composition, and processing details remain tied to the cited sources.