TOPIGS, a global leader in pig breeding and artificial insemination, has started to breed sows that produce offspring with less boar taint.

At present 4.5% of finisher pigs have boar taint. But with boar taint now forming part of the breeding objective within the dam lines of TOPIGS it is expected that the number of finishers with boar taint will have been halved within five years.

The substances that cause boar taint also play a role in fertility, but thanks in part to the use of genomic selection, TOPIGS has found a new technique that makes it possible to reduce the heritability of boar taint in dam lines without affecting the fertility. 

Starting in 2010, TOPIGS was the first company to breed Nador finisher boars with a low heritability for boar taint. The greatest reduction in boar taint can be achieved via the finisher boars so iIncluding boar taint in the breeding objective of the sows ensures an extra reduction in the occurrence of undesired taint in non-castrated pork. 

With a production of more than 1.25 million crossbred gilts and over 7 million doses of semen per year, TOPIGS is one of the biggest genetics suppliers in the world.

Story source: Adapted from a TOPIGS news release, 6 Nov 2013