PIC spent 2022 celebrating 60 years in business – a milestone reached with the help of dedicated employees, passionate pork producers and an innovative industry.
To close out our year of celebration, PIC employees were asked to name the top six things that have shaped PIC over the last 60 years, the responses are summarized below.
1. Genetic Improvement Advancements
Before commercializing hybrid pigs, purebred lines and rotational programs were commonplace. That shifted with hybrid genetics. At PIC, the Camborough was the company’s first result of using hybrid genetics.
In addition, relationship based genomic selection increased the impact of genetic selection. The ability to measure the success of purebred lines in commercial settings (PIC’s terminal and maternal GNX programs) continues to help drive realized genetic gains for customers.
2. Commitment to Health Management
In 1998, PIC committed to PRRS negative breeding stock. We’ve upheld this commitment with the BioShield™ biosecurity program, health assurance team, and now, the PRRS resistant pig gene editing project.
Additionally, PIC advocated for the separation of nurseries from sow farms in the 1990s. This production shift was able to change the health of an entire production flows almost instantly. It also allowed producers to focus on one production segment while contracting or integrating the cycle.
Lastly, through various disease elimination strategies, PIC helps producers eliminate diseases such as PRRS, Mycoplasma, and PED from the herd rather than surviving with the endemic.
3. Adopting Artificial Insemination
In natural mating, one boar can service approximately 20 sows. With conventional AI and PCAI, a single boar can service over 200 sows, increasing the rate of genetic dissemination exponentially.
PIC’s early adoption of artificial insemination allowed more and easier access to high-indexing boars, improving the genetic potential of their progeny.
4. Dedicated Technical Services Support
Adding a technical services support team at PIC was all about ensuring individual pork producer success. PIC’s global team has experience in all aspects of the business and helps producers maximize genetic potential through various technical services.
The reach of the technical service team and networking in the industry allows PIC to bring the best service to each producer regardless of size, challenge, or production segment.
5. Supply Strategy
The core of PIC’s supply strategy is the pork producer and their access to a healthy supply. PIC Elite Farm global expansion allows producers to receive genetics quickly and easily. It’s our contract partners that play a large role in ensuring that access.
6. Never Stop Improving Culture
The PIC team is motivated to improve, challenge and push boundaries to make our customers the most successful producers in the industry – it’s engrained in the culture and everything we do, every day.
Never Stop Improving means being both visionary and practical. And in between is where impactful innovation occurs.
Here’s to 60 more years!
