Sustainability and Efficiency in Breeding: Danish Genetics' Strategy to Improve Sow Health and Robustness

Danish Genetics is leading the way in sustainable and efficient breeding practices, focusing on improving sow health and robustness. In this interview with Mimma Curcio, Area Sales Manager at Breeders of Denmark A/S, we explore their strategy to balance litter size, piglet survival, and sow longevity. Through advanced genetic selection and AI technologies, Danish Genetics is enhancing farm efficiency, profitability, and animal welfare. Curicó shares insights into their breeding philosophy, criteria for sow robustness, and future plans for continued innovation in the swine industry.

1. In the latest Breeding Update 2023, Breeders and Danish Genetics discuss the concept of “balanced litter size”. Can you provide more details on what this means?

At Danish Genetics, we emphasize a balanced approach to litter size, focusing not only on the number of piglets born but also on piglet viability and sow performance.

Our breeding strategy optimizes litter size by ensuring that piglets are stronger at birth, more uniform in weight, and have a higher survival rate from birth to weaning. By carefully adjusting our genetic selection, we reduce the need for interventions while improving animal welfare and overall farm efficiency.

This approach is a core part of our commitment to sustainable genetic progress, ensuring that our customers achieve high productivity and profitability without compromising animal welfare.

2. Breeders and Danish Genetics highlight the importance of sow robustness. Could you explain the criteria used to define and measure sow robustness?

At Danish Genetics, we prioritize sow robustness because a strong and healthy sow leads to better performance, increased efficiency, and sustainable production.

We define sow robustness based on several key traits:

• Longevity: Measured by a sow’s ability to stay productive across multiple parities, ensuring a long and efficient reproductive life.
• Leg and Body Strength: Structural soundness, particularly leg position and movement, is a critical factor in selecting animals that can maintain high performance in different production environments.
• Piglet Survivability: Our breeding program also focuses on improving piglet survival rates through maternal traits, ensuring stronger piglets that thrive under their mother’s care.

By continuously improving these traits through genetic selection and advanced data analysis, Danish Genetics helps pig farmers achieve higher efficiency and sustainability in their herds.

3. What are Breeders and Danish Genetics' future plans or objectives for enhancing sow survivability and robustness?

At Danish Genetics, we are committed to ongoing genetic improvement to enhance sow survivability and robustness, ensuring long-term benefits for pig producers.

Our breeding program focuses on:

• Strengthening maternal traits to improve piglet survival and sow efficiency, reducing the need for human intervention.
• Enhancing sow robustness to increase longevity and productivity, minimizing replacement costs for farmers.
• Optimizing genetic selection to create high-performing sows that thrive in diverse production systems while maintaining high animal welfare standards.

Additionally, to drive innovation in genetic selection, Danish Genetics is actively implementing AI and camera technology in collaboration with the Danish Technological Institute and Aarhus University. This project, known as DiGiSOW, utilizes advanced camera systems and artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the evaluation of sow robustness, particularly focusing on leg strength and mobility.

By continuously monitoring sows with AI-driven image analysis, we can:

• Identify the strongest and most robust sows for breeding.
• Improve leg structure and overall health, reducing early culling rates.
• Enhance animal welfare and sustainability by selecting sows that remain productive for longer periods.

Danish Genetics remains dedicated to its independent breeding philosophy, for Danish Genetics products, even though it’s now part of Hendrix Genetics Swine.