Selection for Piglet Vitality Pays Off
Breeding effort since 2002 shows more piglets and less mortality, writes Jackie Linden, ThePigSite Editor.

Animal Cloning and Implications for the Food Chain
This report examines the potential issues involved with cloning animals for commercial industry, prepared for COI, on behalf of their client, The Food Standards Agency.

Effects of Nutrition During Gilt Development on Lifetime Productivity of Sows of Two Profile Maternal Lines
Differences in litter performance between genetic lines do not appear to be due to gilt management. Dietary energy restriction during the gilt development period positively affects litter weaning weight. By Phillip S. Miller, Rodger K. Johnson, Roman...

Genetic Gains - FCR Should Be The Focus
By Jane Jordan, ThePigSite Editor. As feed costs continue to rise pig producers are trying to squeeze every scrap of growth and performance from their herds - which is not easy given the many variables involved in producing a quality carcases.

Bridging the Gap Between Genetic Potential and On-Farm Performance in Commercial Pigs
By Aedmund J. McClure, Courtesy of Alltech Inc. Commercial hybrid pigs as found on farms throughout the world today have a much improved potential for growth and a much better ability to convert feed to liveweight gain than their counterparts in the late...

Cutting FCR: the key to survival
If pig producers are to survive, they must quickly adapt to a demanding new challenge according to Dr Grant Walling, Director of Research and Genetics at JSR Genetics.

Raising Your Herd’s Genetic Status, Without Risking Its Health
By Dr Grant Walling, Research and Development Director JSR Genetics and Janet M Owen, Veterinary Pig Specialist, Garth Partnership. A pig producer receives significant advice from many sources. Much of it comes from the supply industry - feed companies,...

PMWS and the Benefits of Changing Breed
By Dr GrantWalling, and Stuart Cartwright, JSR Genetics. Many farms unfortunately now have practical experience of Postweaning multisystemicwasting syndrome (PMWS).

CT Scans Used To Spot Pigs With The X Factor
By Dr. Grant Walling, JSR Genetics. Selection by pig geneticists has traditionally focused on traits relatively easy to measure on the live animal, for example growth rate.

What’s new in damline liquid genetics?
By Caroline Blaken, PIC Technical Sales Support - PIC’s new high-throughput marker discovery programme has resulted in a pipeline of thousands of genetic markers for evaluation within PIC’s breeding programme.

Advanced Computing Systems
By Dr Grant Walling, JSR Genetics - The philosophy of 18th Century agriculturalist Robert Bakewell was to ‘breed from the best’, a strategy with which even modern day genetics companies will still be able to identify.

What the Commercial Pork Producer needs to know about Genetic Improvement
By Dr. Todd See, Swine Genetics Specialist, North Carolina State University - The Commercial Pork Producer’s role in genetics is generally to take the end result of a genetic improvement program and manage animals in a manner to maximize expression of...

Evaluating Growth, Loin Muscle Area, and Backfat Accretion During Summer and Winter for Finishing Pigs in Bedded Hoop and Confinement Buildings
By Joel Morrical, graduate research assistant; Mark Honeyman, professor of animal science; Clint Schwab, graduate research assistant; Jay Harmon, professor of ag and biosystems engineering and Tom Baas, associate professor of animal science. This article...

Making Progress Through Research
By Kees de Lange, University of Guelph - This article is from a collection of the scientific papers presented at the 2006 London Swine Conference.

Is there a genetic basis for seasonal infertility in the pig?
By Julian Wiseman, University of Nottingham School of Biosciences & Grant Walling, JSR Genetics Ltd - Seasonal breeding is a common phenomenon in a large number of wild animal species, including the wild boar, which is a short-day breeder.

Customised Genetics - A Case History
With processors’ specifications becoming more and more specialized, US-based Andrew Coates, PIC’s Technical Services Director for Genetics, describes how a custom selection index can be designed to deliver to the most exacting contracts.

Impact of genetic selection on management
By J.A.B. Robinson and M.M. Buhr, University of Guelph - Boars in an artificial insemination centre have been selected for their superior genetic potential, with ‘superior’ being defined as having traits the customer wants transmitted to his herd.

Swine Testing And Genetic Evaluation System
By the Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University - It is a pleasure to present the latest issue of the National Swine Registry multi-breed, National Genetic Evaluation Trait Leader List. Within this website, you will find many options, ranging...

Factors that affect Feet and Leg Soundness
By Todd See, NCSU Swine Extension - The National Animal Health Monitoring System (2001) reports that structural, including feet and leg problems, unsoundness is the reason for removal of 16 percent of the culled swine breeding herd and accounts for 7.3...

Matching Product Performance to Market Needs
By Dr Alan E Tinch, Head of Genetics and R&D, JSR Genetics Ltd - This is a report from The 14th Annual JSR Technical Conference held on the 16th September 2003. The function of our industry is to produce pork for the consumer which is wholesome and desirable...

Design and standards for genetic evaluation of swine seedstock populations
By Baas TJ, Goodwin RN, Christian LL, Johnson RK, Robison OW, Mabry JW, Clark K, Tokach M, Henry S, Berger PJ, Dept. of Animal Science, Iowa State University - The purpose of this article is to describe a program for evaluation of seedstock populations...

Quantitative Selection for Piglet Survival as A Safe Way to Reduce the Cost of Weaners
By Egbert Frank Knol - In this paper, first presented at the 2003 Banff Pork Seminar, trait piglet survival is explored using quantitative methods, searching for genetic variation (Knol, 2001) and for biological explanations for possible genetic differences...

Can Genetic Selection Enhance Nutrient Efficiency?
By Dr Todd See, Swine Genetics Specialist, North Carolina State University - This article looks at the role that genetic selection can have in reducing the amount of nutrients excreted in the urine and faeces of swine in a modern production facility.