Writing in the latest issue of Pig World, Pat Loten, AHDB knowledge exchange manager Pat Loten discusses his work with the artificial insemination (AI) standard for pigs.
We’re all guilty of taking things for granted. And I don’t just mean on a personal level – as an industry, we’re culpable of not singing our own praises enough.
For the past year or so I’ve been involved with the artificial insemination (AI) standard for pigs, and I feel the work needs highlighting. For those who don’t know, the AI standard is a non-accredited assurance standard for the quality of dispatched boar semen produced by participating AI centres.
This industry-led code of practice has been worked on for nearly 20 years. Its beginnings can be traced back to 2005, following concerns raised by the NPA Producer Group about semen quality and the suggestion that AI was a potential route of disease transmission.
The industry wanted to ensure that a specific level of AI handling and delivery was met to prevent a drop in breeding herd fertility.
Development of the AI standard
So, breeding companies from across the country, along with the late AI expert Hanneke Feitsma, from the Institute for Pig Genetics in the Netherlands, developed and wrote the code. Membership to the scheme is voluntary for commercial studs, but it’s heartening to see how widely it has been embraced.
The standard’s parameters are above those considered a threshold for fertility. So, the bar for the bare minimum has already been set very high, with breeding companies going much further.
It helps that these businesses are all competitive and, while there will be differences in the ways they achieve the same result, producers can have faith in the product they’re buying.
Although the standard isn’t internationally recognised, it is an effective measure of quality assurance that has become a key component of the industry’s success.
Review
The AI Technical Advisory Group (TAG), consisting of breeding companies, AI production managers, an appointed auditor and an NPA Pig Industry Group representative, meets twice yearly to review the standard.
Any updates or changes must be approved by TAG before they can be audited. AHDB previously paid for the audits, but our role has now become that of secretariat, so we help pull it all together.
What must be impressed on producers is the need to adhere to instructions when applying the product. I know plenty of effort has gone into teaching farmers and farm staff how to use AI. The quality from the studs and what the farmers do with it are both critical to success.
The AI standard may be in a healthy place, but work continues to see if improvements can be made, or if it needs to evolve. And like the whole of the industry, contingency plans need to be put in place.
When it comes to the industry pulling together for the greater good, what an example – or dare I say standard – those involved have set.