Genetics

Genetics: Are you raising your hogs for the right market?

It’s the pork consumers who dictate the quality demand. Work with your packer, your geneticist and other specialists to ensure that you are providing the product that the market, whether domestic or export, is seeking

by SERGE POMMIER

Do you ever consider the quality of the meat produced from your farm after your hogs leave the barn door?

As producers, we often neglect to think about who the end consumer of our pork products will be or how our hogs are measuring up to consumer demands. But, ultimately, it’s the pork consumers who dictate the quality demand and influence the market price.

Genetics: Asking the right questions will boost your bottom line

Knowing things like optimum breeding and feeding patterns and the best management practices to generate top performance can have a significant impact on your performance and profitability

by SERGE POMMIER

What questions should producers ask genetics suppliers to ensure that they’re getting the best performance from their genetics? That’s a question a producer recently put to me and I think the answer is worth repeating in this column.

Genetics: The computer revolution in progeny testing

Thanks to the power of computers, we can now evaluate how progeny perform in the most challenging of commercial environments to drive higher rates of genetic and economic improvement

by SERGE POMMIER

In my last column, I briefly mentioned the role of advancing computer technology in establishing genetic markers and the positive impact these markers are having on the pace of genetic improvement.

Computers are also revolutionizing progeny testing. There’s no better evidence of this than the emergence of crossbred breeding values.