World-renowned swine genetics company Topigs Norsvin held a grand opening June 27 for its new state-of-the-art research centre located in the R.M. of Woodlands, northwest of Winnipeg.

Close to 1,000 people attended the event.

Topigs Norsvin International CEO Martin Bijl told those assembled why the Dutch company chose Manitoba for this $15 million investment sighting the health status of the animals is of great importance, so to keep them healthy, Manitoba has the right infrastructure and low disease pressure for pigs.

Bijl said it’s not only a question of making genetic progress with pigs but also to disseminate the genetic progress through semen and animals worldwide. Delta Canada is an essential step in the further development of Topigs Norsvin as a global supplier of genetics. It makes it easier and faster to supply customers in the USA and Canada, in particular, but also the rest of the world with the latest top genetics. The first boars will leave the center at the end of this year.

“Delta Canada will substantially increase the genetic progress in our Z line and TN Tempo,” said Hans Olijslagers CTO of Topigs Norsvin. “It is part of Topigs Norsvin’s long-term breeding strategy and will substantially contribute to our target of doubling genetic progress in the coming period.”

Topigs Norsvin built this new research center with the latest technology to provide maximum animal welfare, highest level biosecurity, and minimal environmental impact. The location is isolated from other pig production, and yet it is still close to Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, which makes it possible to export high-health boars and semen with the highest genetic value to their customers. The total investment is €10 million or CAN$ 15 million.

Delta Canada houses 2600 pigs and will test 7500 young nucleus boars of the TN Tempo sire line and the Z-line dam line every year. Delta Canada, just like the Delta Center in Norway, is equipped with IFIR feeding stations for individual feed intake registration and a CT scanner that makes it possible to improve carcass composition, robustness, and meat quality faster and with higher accuracy.

 Mike Shaw is the director of genetic services, Topigs Canada and took several farm journalists on a tour of the research station where because the public could not go.

Shaw said pigs from six source farms near Stonewall, MB enters into their Delta nurseries, entirely isolated from each other and thoroughly filtered, so they act as quarantines as well as nurseries. “We can quarantine the pigs from the six source farms, make sure that they’re clean of any diseases so nothing’s coming with them,” he said. “Once we’re comfortable with the health testing and the quarantine released, then we can move them over to the main Delta site when they’re about 12 weeks of age.”

Shaw also explained how the company would move about 15,000 pigs a year into the nurseries do a pre-selection based on genomics, and then seven and a half thousand will come into the main Delta site, about 144 boars a week.

In 12 weeks they’ll come into the main site and go through the quarantine room, filtered to protect the main barn from anything they may come in contact with, although they come on a filtered trailer.

“We’re thinking highly of the device security and any risks during transportation, so the filtered trailer protects them on the way here, but also a filtered quarantine once they arrive,” he said. “Once the boars are 130 kilos, they go through the CT scanner followed by their final selection, an exterior scoring, and assessment to give them their best candidate boars to become the next generation.”

Being a significant, expensive, all-encompassing process how good can the meat become that the consumer eats because that is the ultimate target.

“We’re looking at performance traits, feed conversion growth rates, but at the same time with a CT scanner we’re looking at the carcass traits and meat quality,” said Shaw. “We’re looking at fat, whether it’s back fat, but also intramuscular fat, loin size at different carcass cut-out yields, giving us the meat quality information from the CT scanner.” •

— By Harry Siemens