Our breeding pig breeding program aims to provide healthy, self-reliant animals that are continuously improved in each generation.2% looks very small. But when appropriate, 2% can have a huge impact.

Genetic progress or improvement is defined as the progress made when the average genetic value of the offspring is higher than the average genetic value of the previous generation. So, simply, raising the rate of genetic progression is about producing better pigs faster. Today, we will focus on genetic improvement and our expectations for our champion pigs.

3 major factors for the progression of genetic improvement
The progress of genetic improvement in each generation depends on three factors:
1, the accuracy of phenotypic assessment or performance records in predicting the true breeding value or genotype of animals.
2, the intensity of the selection based on the phenotypic evaluation of the animals.
3, the size of variation in the genetic or true breeding value of the selected traits between animals.

Note that if either of these factors equals zero, the calculated result is zero, indicating that the expected progression in genetic improvement that cannot be seen regardless of the magnitude of the other two factors.

Advances in genetic improvement may occur regardless of the type of management, feed, or facility in the farm (or system). The progress of genetic improvement does not result from changes in management, facilities, feed, etc. Even if these measures, the population level of a specific trait is improved, the progress of genetic improvement does not necessarily change. The reason is that changing these environmental factors will neither alter the genes carried by the animal nor the genotype obtained from these genes; therefore, it does not affect the progress of genetic improvement.

Progress in genetic improvement brings tangible benefits to profitability, meaning that the progress made this year will still exist next year and for years to come. Although minor advances in genetic improvement may be overlooked in the short term, these improvements will become apparent in the long term due to their superposition. For example, when feed conversion increased by 0.03% in comparisons in subsequent years, the effect may be minimal, but the effect appears over longer. Sometimes compound interest 1 is called the eighth wonder of the world, and the progress of genetic improvement is also of the same thing!

explanatory note:
[1] Compound interest is an interest that applies not only to the initial principal of an investment or loan, but also to previously accumulated interest. In other words, compound interest is to earn interest with interest, which in this paper mainly refers to the superimposed income of genetic improvement progress.

Animal breeding is a powerful tool

Advances of animal genetic improvement are an important component of sustainable development. While most people are not familiar with how the progress in animal genetic improvement is achieved, they clearly know that their animals are completely different from their ancestors in shape and behavior. Breeding is a powerful tool that animal breeders have used to produce more productive and dynamic animals. This greatly reduces the environmental resources required for the unit product. Innovative techniques such as artificial insemination and genomic selection have greatly improved the progress of genetic improvement in animal breeding programs.

More efficient animals can have a positive impact on land use, and the animals eat less (with less investment), thus reducing land use. Calculating feed conversion rates in different ways, using diet quality, fecal composition and swine mortality rate from start to end, will contribute to sustainable conversion.

Historic progress in breeding breeding pigs

Significant genetic improvement occurred with the development of target trait determination methods, use of breeding values, hybrid breeding, and development of commercial pig lines for rapid, efficient growing and unproductive piglets. At the end of the century, genetic maps were mapped to the important genetic markers identified and used for marker-assisted selection of economically important traits. These findings and their application in industry make pork a major source of red lean meat.

The effort in the early 2000s is amazing. The initial sequencing effort is now complete; the development of SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) chips and the emergence of genomic selection are beginning to revolutionize pig breeding efforts. With these new genomic tools, the selection of resistant pigs may be easier. It is also expected that breeding programs can be fine-tuned to adapt to specific environments, specific high-end niche markets or the production of specialty products.

Both breeding pigs and commercial pig producers and consumers will benefit from these advances in genetics and genomics and the resulting advances in genetic improvement. This will require the application of these technologies in husbandry, as well as the training of relevant personnel in husbandry and the safety education of the public about the technologies in this regard.