Race is on …

The Race is on to find solution to boar taint. The search for alternatives for castration is going. Aarhus University started a project on feed. Read more in this Pig Progress article.

Research: Boar taint vaccination affecting pig prices

Vaccinating against boar taint was shown to have a negative impact on pig prices paid by meatpackers in Germany. This was concluded by the agricultural chamber of the state North Rhine Westphalia, on the basis of research carried out at the well-known research centre Haus Düsse as stated by PigProgress, … Continue reading

Market acceptation biggest obstacle for castration ban

Market acceptation is the biggest obstacle for achieving the goal of completely banning castration of male piglets in the European Union by 2018 reports PigProgress on November 18, 2013.  This was the key outcome of a conference related to a ban on castration in the Netherlands, late last week. The recent … Continue reading

TOPIGS starts to banish boar taint from dam lines

TOPIGS has started to breed sows that produce offspring with less boar taint. Boar taint will be part of the breeding objective within the dam lines of TOPIGS. As a result of this it is expected that the number of finishers with boar taint will have been halved in five … Continue reading

Collaborative study to validate reference method for boar taint compounds

The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) is organizing a collaborative study to validate two analysis methods for the determination of boar taint marker substances in pork tissue. These methods shall be standardised, and will serve as reference for the development of rapid methods. Invitation Laboratories interested in participating … Continue reading