Sewing the seed

Earlier this year I attended a pig genetics event in China where one of the speakers declared, “in pig production, birth is more important than death”. Robustability versus piglets per sow per year was a huge talking point and the discussion remained inconclusive whether the quality of piglets born or number of piglets born should be considered more important. Obviously there are weighty arguments for both aspects, but for all those involved, minimising piglet mortality is key to successful