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Genes blended for supply chain goals
By Roger Abbott – published in Pig Progress (Dec 2006)
Chinese genes and traditional breeds have been incorporated into the selection programme of a UK breeding company to develop and register two new purebred GGP dam lines.
The world is a large place and there is room for all the breeding companies, says British pig breeding company executive chairman Stephen Curtis, whose Yorkshire-based ACMC business appears to be carving a special niche for itself on the international market, especially in the East. “Pig production today is all about applied science and genetic improvement”, says Curtis, who has led the way in his company’s efforts to develop and register two new purebred GGP dam lines (Meidam and Volante) that are exclusive to his innovative company.
For example, Curtis said, his team of experts used science and traditional genetic selection methods to take the best qualities from the Meidam breed and incorporated them into the new Meidam line. The result produced sows with sufficient teats and milk to raise far more pigs that are heavier than normal, compared to any other breed in commercial use today; the pigs also reach puberty at a younger age than traditional breeds, have a good appetite and could produce milk on a low-cost diet, he claimed.
The Volante dam line was developed in the same way out of the Large White, Duroc and Pietrain breeds to provide optimum carcase traits and introduce hybrid vigour into the company’s breeding programmes. “We have brought traditional breeds together to create a better pig and then pure bred it” explained Curtis, who believes this provides what he described as ‘a serious step gain’ for producers.
MORE PRODUCTIVITY
“I believe the next step is to develop these two breeds even further to increase output and yield. I am convinced the Meidam has the genetic potential to produce 16 to 18 piglets born alive along with better, darker meat, said Curtis, who helped found the Northern Pig Development (NPD) pig breeding company and its breed programme in the 1960s, and denies using ‘Frankenstein’ techniques.
“We have been working on these two new breeds using traditional gene transfer methods at ACMC for the past 11 years to improve food efficiency, as well as meat quality and health and welfare for the pigs. If we went back to selecting pigs in the traditional manner it could take a lifetime to increase the yield and litter size. We have shown that it can be done quickly by blending and mixing the genes in a simple and effective breeding programme to obtain productivity for producers and uniformity for processors.” And he is using his company’s gene transfer achievements to broaden his network across the world, particularly in Eastern Europe where ACMC has linked up with the Smithfield Food companies in Poland and Romania, as well as in Thailand and the Philippines.
ON-GOING PORK DEMAND
Asked why he had gone abroad to expand his company, Curtis said: “When ACMC was founded in the early 1990s, it was quite obvious that any major growth in the pig industry would be on the international front and not just in the UK as the wealth of developing nations increased and people started eating more meat, especially pork. We could see an on-going and increasing demand for pork in the world and I wanted to be involved in that growth, which was not apparent in the UK at the time. In any case, I have had contacts in East Asia for 20 odd years, thanks to my old links with NPD, and I made a conscious decision to open offices and establish business hubs in Thailand and the Philippines in 2002. Both these countries have got established pig sectors and they are seeing a growth in the industry, both in demand and production. They are also gateways to further exports to countries such as Japan, Indonesia, Burma and even China and Korea.”
He is confident of continued growth in demand for pork in all those regions and he is determined to get in first to take advantage of future sales. But, he pointed out that nothing is instant. “It has taken time to get established and build up relationships with like-minded people who want to develop our breeding stock in their countries. For example, we have been in Thailand since 2003 to show Thai farmers that our pigs do have something extra to offer them. And, we were able to demonstrate in real terms that our pigs do produce a high quality slaughter generation. We have now established nucleus and multiplication units of high health pigs on one of the bigger islands in the Philippines and in Thailand, where we started with 450 breeding animals in a nucleus unit. We are already planning and building more units in these two regions in co-operation with local agents and third-party breeders. I believe this is the best way forward and I would like to consolidate our position in Thailand and cover all regions in the Philippines.”
EUROPEAN HOME BASE
The company has also established nucleus herds and multiplication units in Poland and Romania, where it is responsible for genetic monitoring and on-going breeding development in close co-operation with Smithfield Food Companies, which has an undisclosed equity stake in the UK company. And Curtis is adamant that he wants ACMC to continue expanding in the UK and other parts of the EU, which he regards as part of his domestic market.
“I see our UK headquarters as our main genetic breeding and development centre – providing the high health pigs that are needed for the international market and to top up the international nucleus units. The centre in Britain will also support our agents in Italy, Spain and Germany, where we have opened up new markets with franchise operations. We are also looking at new opportunities in Russia and we are talking to several people about future franchise agreements there at the moment,” he said. In fact, Curtis indicated that he was hoping to export the first consignment to Russia from the UK before Christmas this year (2006).
His ultimate wish is to have ACMC breeding activities in all the main pig breeding countries in the world, but he realises that he has to control expansion and that he can’t try to run before he walks. He claims that he has no time to consider opposition from other international pig breeding companies and pointed out that the world “is big enough for all of us”.
He explained that ACMC was trying to work with farmers in other countries and following their local methods, rather than rushing in and telling them how to run their pig industries. But he points out that the current rapid growth of the company in the East is due to the ability of the stock to perform. “Our breeds must have something to offer producers and processors”.
On its website, the company claims that it “takes a professional approach to pig production, working in partnership with experienced pig farmers in the UK and abroad to grow our pigs through to either breeding stock sales, or the finished pig market” – and this approach seems to be working, especially in Thailand and the Philippines.
GENETIC SUPPORT
Future growth in ACMC, the British pig breeding company now pushing into East Asia and Eastern Europe will be actively supported by its own in-house genetic consultancy unit, as well as a Windows-based pig management software package.
The consultant unit has been set up to provide genetic and management consultancy for both large integrated organisations and smaller independent producers. It can also help companies with data collection and storage, data analysis and final selection of breeding animals. The software – PigCom – was designed by pig producers for pig producers, said the company’s executive chairman, Stephen Curtis. He claimed it was an easy-to-use, computer-based program for recording in both the breeding and feeding herds.
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