Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Breeding a better pig in a changing global market Dr Jan ten Napel 18 th March, 2015

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Introduction  Commercial pig production is changing worldwide  A genetic programme is a design tool to change characteristics in a population  Objective ● Overview of what is currently being done to breed pigs that are suitable for the production systems and conditions of future generations

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Global developments in pig production  Economy ● Scale enlargement ● Rapid expansion in Russia, China and Brazil ● Country-specific in EU, but decreasing ● Concentration (BE, DE, FR, NL, PT,...) ● Abandonment (DK, ES, IT, UK,...) ● Re-structuring (CR,PL)

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Global developments in pig production  Markets ● Increase in niche markets ● Organic production ● Local produce ● Low-cost production of commodity  Society ● Concerns about public health: use of antibiotics ● Concerns about animal welfare: tail docking, castration

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Global developments in pig production  Pig breeding and genetics ● Consolidation through mergers and take-overs ● Increasing scale of business ● Globally operating ● Introduction of expensive techniques, such as large-scale genotyping of the whole genome ● So fewer and larger breeding organisations serve a wider range of markets worldwide ● Trade will be increasingly with grandparent stock

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Breeding for the future  Five generations of pigs is seven years in practice  What should be changed through genetic selection? ● Better health of pigs ● Better resource efficiency ● Maintain a reasonable profitability ● More acceptable to society and consumers ● All of this in a wider range of production systems and markets in the world  Focus of current research

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Breeding for better health  A healthy pig ● Does not get clinical symptoms for pathogens that are common in the herd ● Deals with an infection with minimal loss of production  Breeding for healthy pigs ● Creates a good starting position ● Needs the right management to become effective ● Difficult in practice, but not impossible

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Study of Herreiro et al on litter size  There is genetic variation in ability to maintain productivity in harsh environments

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Breeding for better resource efficiency  Minimal wastage (loss of animals, loss of production) ● Viability of pigs ● Mothering ability ● Predictability of production ● Positive social interactions  Ability to utilise locally available feed stuff ● Availability of high quality protein (or lack of it)  Increased productivity ● Improved efficiency per kg product

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Genetic correlations between growth rate in different group sizes in the same pen  Growth rate with competition (groups of 16) and without competition (groups of 13) are different traits

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Breeding for acceptable pork production  No need to castrate – breeding for a low boar taint ● Boar taint is caused by skatole and androstenone ● Some boars have a reduced clearance of skatole if androstenone in the liver increases ● Strongly heritable ● Requires a different way to select against boar taint than often suggested

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Crossbred progeny of high and low boar- taint sires

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Breeding for a reasonable profitability  Anticipate on changing consumer preferences ● Maximise carcass revenue  Minimise cost of production ● Reduce the need for individual management of sows through breeding ● Predictability models ● Improve productivity in diverse and dynamic conditions

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Improving productivity  It is a pattern, not an incident: +0.2 pigs born per litter in the Netherlands

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre New tools for genetic improvement  Genomic selection changes the common practice in animal breeding ● Utilising detailed DNA information to estimate genetic merit ● It means reliable breeding values already at birth ● Helpful for traits expressed in one sex or late in life ● Application across breeds and crosses ● Research: new knowledge, new tools

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Breed4Food  Public-private partnership ● Four Dutch-based animal breeding companies ● Wageningen UR  Three major research areas ● Exploiting DNA information ● Enabling new breeding goal traits ● Adding value to the chain  Aim: enhance genetic improvement for a sustainable and profitable livestock sector, meeting societal challenges

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Conclusions  Dutch pig breeding companies focus on breeding pigs that are able to produce in a wide range of climates and production conditions  Pigs from such a genetic programme should adapt without problems and be productive in Spanish conditions  Current research focuses on all main aspects of sustainability and acceptability to society and consumers

Animal Breeding & Genomics Centre Dutch genetics Breeding for sustainable pig production – now and in the future