A consignment of high-value nucleus breeding stock to boost the small, but efficient, Maltese pig industry has just been completed by genetics company ACMC.
A total of 57 great-grandparent (GGPs) and grandparent (GPs) boars and gilts were despatched from the company’s Yorkshire nucleus units. The consignment included the hyper-prolific Meidam and Volante female lines, as well as the heavily muscled and ultra-lean Vantage Extreme boar line.
“Malta revitalised its pig industry in 2011 by improving health and nutrition, setting up a new nucleus unit and switching genetics,” ACMC’s managing director, Matthew Curtis, said. “This had a significant impact on productivity and the latest import from Britain will enable the KIM co-op, which represents the island’s pig producers, to breed its own replacements to ensure the stock remain genetically up-to-date.
“All feed in Malta has to be imported, so sow productivity and efficient feed conversion from modern genetics is vitally important to help the island’s pig industry to remain competitive.”