Opportunities For Improving Reproductive Management And Efficiency Of The Swine Breeding Herd With Artificial Insemination

Current Status of AI Use The USA swine breeding herd has been reported to include 3.9 million sows. Approximately 60% of these sows were determined to have been mated by artificial insemination. Each sow received 6.5 doses of semen annually, for a total of 25 million doses utilized in a single year (1999, Boar Semen Conference). Most of the AI is performed with 3 billion sperm in 80 cc of a 5-day liquid extender. Both bottles (tubes) and bags are used for storage in single doses at a similar frequency. Although frozen boar semen is currently available, there appears to be some limitations since insemination must occur within 8 h prior to ovulation to achieve results comparable to liquid extended semen for farrowing rates and litter sizes.