January 2012

Rattlerow presents new developments at European AI Conference

Cutting costs and improving efficiency to AI production, distribution and technical support services is paramount at Rattlerow, as is stronger communication between research centres and other innovative AI businesses.

Presentation at Conference in Spain

As part of this philosophy, Ian Gillies, Rattlerow’s Nucleus and AI production manager was invited to the First IMV/Humeco Swine Reproduction Scientific and Technical Day held in Huesca, Spain towards the end of 2011. He gave a presentation and was also involved in a round table discussion that focused on the many challenges faced by modern AI businesses. The aim of the meeting was to discuss current and future challenges faced and how new technologies would help successfully address them. Other topics up for discussion were new national and or European regulations for semen production, the continued depressed market situation and the need to cut production costs and improve efficiency.

Ian’s presentation included a brief summary of Rattlerow’s AI business in the UK, how it manages its studs and all the processes involved from collection to delivery; and its experience and new developments in the AI sector including its high level of commitment to quality assurance. The interactive debate involved 160 delegates from across the world and the multilingual conference proved a valuable platform to share experiences and discuss current trends, new ideas and the latest developments.

United issues
Although the conference format was a little daunting at first, Ian said it generated thought provoking discussion and was like a mini ‘united nations’ for the AI business. “There was ample opportunity to ask questions, join the debate and learn from the different companies represented. Most of the delegates were involved in managing AI studs and or technical development and the main topics centred on production procedures and how to improve efficiency and reduce costs. There was some lively debate, particularly about inter-uterine insemination,” he adds. This procedure is becoming popular in Spanish herds. It requires a lower volume dose per insemination and many pig producers believe that AI prices should reflect this - less semen, lower price.

“It’s a topical issue in Europe and you can see why, with producers under such pressure to cut costs - every penny counts. However, the overheads involved in collecting, processing, packaging and distributing semen remain the same for a high or low volume dose,” he explains. AI operators were also keen to find out more about automated techniques for semen processing, to save labour and new methods to reduce the potential for contamination.

Dr Johannes Kauffold for the University of Leipzig (Germany) said that as bacteria became more resistant to antibiotics and their use in animal production increasingly scrutinised, the AI industry needed to research and adopt alternative solutions to reduce or eliminate the use of antibiotics in semen extender. Automated collection, as recently installed by Rattlerow has been shown to reduce bacteria levels and will be helpful in this respect.

Other speakers included Dr Jordi Roca of the University or Murcia (Spain) and Dr Jessika Van Leeuwen from IMV Technologies who gave an insight into emerging technologies and current developments in Computer Assisted Semen Analysis or CASA.

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