Combined effect of sow deep intrauterine insemination and boar frozen semen on economic indicators

Abstract Text: Boar sperm count can be negatively affected by reproductive technologies such as frozen semen preparation (FRO), sex-sorted sperm, and sperm mediated gene transfer. Deep intrauterine (DUI) insemination technique enables the effective use of semen doses with lower sperm count compared to conventional (CON) and intrauterine (IUI) insemination. The widespread use of DUI and frozen semen preparation depends on the impact of these technologies on the profit at the commercial level. The goal of the study was to compare the effect of the three insemination techniques on the financial indicators of a pig crossbreeding system. A three-tier system starting with the cross of nucleus lines B and A to generate 200,000 BA sows at the multiplier level was simulated in ZPLAN. At the commercial level, the BA sows were inseminated (CON, IUI, or DUI) using FRO from nucleus line C boars. The insemination techniques were differentiated by distinct sow:boar ratios in the C x BA cross. In addition, a range of farrowing rates (60% to 90%) and litter sizes (8 to 14 liveborn pigs) were tested. The differences in profit between the insemination techniques were driven by differences in costs (P-value < 0.0001). The use of DUI resulted in higher variable costs with relatives differences (RD = [(DUI - CON) / max(DUI,CON)]) of 14.3% relative to CON and 12.9% relative to IUI. However, the use of DUI resulted in substantially lower fixed costs with RD of -7.4% relative to CON and -2.4% relative to IUI. The RD of DUI for total costs were -5.4% for CON and -0.7% for IUI. In term of gross returns the three insemination technologies had similar outputs (RD < 1%) and consequently, DUI had the highest profit among the technologies studied (RD of DUI was 4% relative to CON and 0.8% relative to IUI). This study demonstrated the relative advantage of DUI that stemmed from the lower sow population size and higher efficiency of boar use resulting in lower fixed costs and higher profit.

Keywords: Deep intrauterine, frozen semen, simulation