PSIII-9 - Field fertility following the practice of post-cervical artificial insemination (PCAI) at multiple North American swine units.

Abstract: On a global scale, greater than 95% of sows are bred using artificial insemination (AI). As with most technologies, efficiencies improve over time and in the case of swine AI the industry is moving towards fewer sperm per dose in conjunction with a post-cervical deposition (PCAI). Nevertheless, little information is available stating the fertility of farms actively using PCAI. The objective of this research is to provide a retrospective report on the field fertility of multiple farms in North America utilizing PCAI. As a reference, information is provided for contemporary farms utilizing conventional AI (intra-cervical deposition in conjunction with a higher total sperm count per dose). Semen doses produced for PCAI (1.5 billion total cells in 40mL volume) sourced from one boar stud located in Tennessee and are packaged as pooled semen in NUTRIXcell + extender. Semen was held overnight at 18°C and delivered to seven farms the next day. Semen doses produced for conventional AI (CONAI) also sourced from a single boar stud located in Michigan; packaged as pooled semen at 2.75 billion total cells in a 70mL volume using the NUTRIXcell + extender and shipped to six farms the same day as semen production. Both PCAI and CONAI was used on 100% of gilts and multiparous sows in respective systems. Field fertility, reported as farrow rate (FAR) and mean total born (TB), is reported below for both PCAI (Table 1) and CONAI (Table 2) following use per individual farms during January 2022 to September 2023. Results suggest that PCAI can maintain acceptable levels of fertility and should enable cost savings in conjunction with increased dissemination of superior genetics.