Breeding plays an important role in pig production, both today and in the future. Therefore, DanBred is once again committed to responsible and balanced breeding with the Code-EFABAR certificate – to support a sustainable future for pig production.
This year, we received our seventh version of the Code-EFABAR certificate. The certificate was first awarded to DanBred in 2006 and has since been revised and updated every three years. With the Code-EFABAR certificate, we, together with our R&D department at the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, commit to responsible and balanced breeding.
“To ensure our industry’s legitimacy in the future, we must strive for efficient pig production while ensuring high health and animal welfare. The foundation is the genetics. So, DanBred’s breeding programme plays an important role in relation to producing pigs that are suitable for the production systems of the future,” says Anders Vernersen from the Breeding & Genetics department at the Danish Agriculture & Food Council.
Balanced breeding for the future
Modern breeding work consists of finding a balanced combination of traits in the breeding goal to ensure efficient pig production.
“DanBred pigs are good at converting feed into growth, and our sows produce many robust piglets in each litter. This means that the farmer needs fewer sows to produce a given number of finisher pigs with less feed than before. And, in addition, DanBred finisher pigs deliver excellent meat quality,” says Anders Vernersen.
The breeding progress for these traits provides a great economic gain for the pig producers and, at the same time, contributes to efficient production through optimal utilisation of resources, which goes hand in hand with the obligations that the Code-EFABAR certificate stands for.
A valuable commitment in the EU
The Code-EFABAR certification was first launched by EFFAB (European Forum of Farm Animal Breeders) in 2006 and is a European association consisting of 53 breeding organisations within: pigs, ruminants, poultry, aquaculture, and insects.
EFFAB is a major player in the EU, with a political vision based on scientific findings and reflecting the role of agriculture in Europe. The Code-EFABAR certificate is based on 6 basic principles of modern and balanced breeding.
The six basic principles of Code-EFABAR:
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