GROWTH in Carcass Improvement:

Boars and gilts probed at Five Lakes Farms at the end of July continue to show great performance parameters. Biggest loin probed at 100 kg live weight on Trailblazer boars was 68.2 mm; on Landrace boars was 69.7 mm; on Landrace gilts was 72.1 mm and on Duroc gilts was 68.3 mm.

Breed	No.	Average Backfat	Loin Depth	Loin Area	Est. Lean Yield
Trailblazer boars	20	10.0 mm	64.1 mm	41.6 sq cm	63.7%
Pathfinder boars	13	10.2 mm	64.3mm	41.6 sq cm	63.6%
Landrace gilts	27	9.5mm	63.4 mm	44.2 sq cm	63.9%
Yorkshire gilts	22	9.7 mm	62.2 mm	43.5 sq cm	63.8%

Welcome to Cluny Colony on becoming an in-house multiplier client with Yorkshire gilts and Landrace boars. As always, we appreciate every one of our breeding stock clients!

Benefits to Alberta’s Agriculture and Agri-Food Industry

Genetic evaluation of breeding pigs for carcass and meat quality will help the industry to provide better pork quality at competitive prices. The breeding herd selector will benefit from better tools for genetic selection of breeding stock. The sows, boars and gilts with genetically superior meat quality will be useful for producers to grow and finish market hogs that will provide them better value. The genetic evaluations (Estimates of Breeding Values, EBVs) will also help producers improve the lean yield in addition to the increase through the IGF2 gene. Again, one percent increase in the lean yield through the genetic evaluations (EBVs) could provide benefits in excess of $1.5 million annually to the pork industry. Lean yields are included in the current payment grid while meat quality traits are not. It is therefore hard to give a financial quantification (figures in dollars and cents) with respect to meat quality, as there is no direct payment per unit improvement in colour, marbling, pH, drip loss etc. However, if the pigs do not meet the minimum meat quality requirements of the packers, that producer may lose his entire marketing contract. Therefore, for many producers the value of improvement in meat quality is the cost of doing business. The project will improve the meat quality of thousands of market hogs and will allow the producers to remain and excel in their business for the benefit of the Alberta swine industry.

Objectives

The project objectives and deliverables are described as follows:

1. Evaluate the effect of the IGF2 gene on litter size and other traits of sow productivity
2. Develop methods for effective use of the IGF2 gene tests and genetic evaluation for meat quality in pork production

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