A $900,000 USDA grant will help researchers at the University of Illinois advance the knowledge and practical use of frozen boar semen in swine herds across the United States.
Under the project entitled, "Advancing Technology for Practical Use of Cryopreserved Boar Sperm to Improve Opportunities for Profitable Pork Production," collaborators will examine how U.S. pork producers can make genetic progress and improve biosecurity measures through the use of frozen boar semen. The project is funded by an Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Neal Merchen, head of the department of animal sciences at the U of I, believes the integrated focus of this proposal to bring research and education components together through the collaboration of a multi-faceted team set it apart from the other 65 project requests.
Project director Rob Knox, an associate professor at the U of I and swine reproductive extension specialist, will lead one of the five approved projects for 2009.
"Our first aim of this project is to use multivariate analysis to identify in-vitro tests for predicting in-vivo fertility of cryopreserved boar sperm," said Knox. "Our second aim is to identify methods that maintain fertility when inseminating reduced numbers of valuable frozen sperm. Finally, we want to provide practical educational tools that help producers make decisions regarding the use of frozen boar semen for genetic advancement, productivity, and disease protection in domestic or international markets."
Nearly all U.S. commercial pork producers use artificial insemination (A.I.) — a major transition from a very low percentage using A.I. in the early 1990s to nearly 100 percent today.
"The fertility on U.S. hog farms is phenomenal by any stretch," said Knox. "Improvements in our swine breeding systems will come at a much slower rate now. To go from 80 percent farrowing rates to 90 percent requires many things to happen at the same time."
Because of this, Knox began questioning U.S. breeding systems from semen fertility to disease to A.I. timing in an attempt to figure out how to help pork operations achieve even higher efficiency.
"The U.S. pork industry relies on liquid semen with a shelf life of only five days," Knox said. "A.I. is performed using three billion sperm in multiple inseminations with pooled semen from multiple boars. This methodology, while successful at minimizing infertility from poor quality semen, increases the risk for disease transmission and reduces the potential for genetic advancement by diluting semen from sires with superior traits."
The team suggests use of frozen semen can help improve rates of genetic progress, improve profitability, and protect herds against disease, making pork operations more efficient and cost-effective.
Collaborators in the project include U of I faculty Dave Miller, Rebecca Krisher, Sandra Rodriguez-Zas, Peter Goldsmith and Sherrie Clark. Additional investigators include Phillip Purdy from the USDA and Ken Stalder from Iowa State University.
Source: Rob Knox, 217-244-5177, rknox@illinois.edu