Can Iberian pigs — source of jamón ibérico de bellota — thrive in the American South?

Even from a distance, the pigs looked odd. It was hard to see them clearly at first; heavy rains had carved ruts into the dirt road that led into the pasture, and every time the Jeep hit bottom, my glasses slid down my nose. But as we jolted forward, the mass of dark bodies crowding the fence and pressing against the wires came into focus.

They weren’t like any pigs I’d seen before — not pearly and stout like the commodity Yorkshires whose backs and bellies provide most American bacon, not sturdy and colorful like the Tamworths and Gloucestershire Old Spots that heritage-focused farmers raise. Instead, these pigs were lean and compact, long-snouted and quick. A fringe of black bristles sprouted between their floppy ears, formed a collar around their shoulders, and ran down their legs to narrow, pointed hoofs.