Development of selection criteria to improve carcase quality and use of haemoglobin levels in sows and piglets to improve piglet survival, performance and pork quality: Final Report APL Project 1025

Abstract

Additional return per carcase can be achieved by having more weight in the more valuable primal cuts for carcases with the same total weight and fat depth. Australian data were required to quantify the economic benefits of higher saleable meat yield for a given carcase weight and fat depth for the Australian market and to develop selection strategies for improved carcase market value. Primal cut weights were obtained for 2,311 carcases which were combined with 23,210 pedigree and 16,875 performance records. A proportion of these pigs had fat and muscle depth measures available from the PorkScan™ system. It was not possible to obtain light-stripping information from the PorkScan™ system and images of the standing pig were collected instead. These images were analysed with a freely available image-analysis program (ImageJ) to obtain 14 linear or area measurements for each pig to describe conformation of live pigs three weeks prior to slaughter. In total, over 36,000 image-analysis records were obtained. Genetic analyses of data provided information about genetic and phenotypic associations between primal cut weights and other traits.