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PIC's Banks Baker on the role of genetics in a more sustainable pork industry

No matter your stance on climate change, greenhouse gas emissions or the role agriculture plays in the issue, one thing is certain. The clock is ticking for all of agriculture to build their own solution because consumers, industry stakeholders, corporations and governments are all lining up to do it for us.

Banks Baker with the Pig Improvement Company (PIC) started his presentation to the delegates at Banff Pork Seminar 2023 with a look at the increasing focus globally on reducing emissions levels, the use of taxes and levies on imports, and the direction retailers are heading when it comes to the sustainability of the products they sell.

"Agriculture is being asked to do a lot - animal health and welfare, antimicrobial stewardship, food affordability, positive climate action," says Baker. For example over 1,400 companies are working with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)- think McDonalds, Target, Cargill, Tyson, Walmart, Maple Leaf Foods, JBS - to set their own corporate goals and targets. Now SBTi companies represent over a third of global market capitalization, worth $38 trillion USD.

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Episode 107: Think you have a closed herd?

Video: Episode 107: Think you have a closed herd?

Surveys show many producers believe they operate a closed herd, but what does “closed” really mean? For some, it simply means being genetically closed by raising their own replacements and cleanup bulls, using artificial insemination for new genetics and avoiding the purchase of outsourced cattle. However, being a truly closed herd goes far beyond genetics. A closed herd also works to eliminate as many potential sources of disease introduction as possible. In this episode, we take a closer look at what it truly means to run a closed herd.