Thanks to our technology and our scientific team, AlphaGene products stand out because of their high-quality performance.
A unique scientific approach
The fact that the bloodlines of our swine demonstrate remarkable performance characteristics is in part due to AlphaGene’s unique scientific approach: Alpha-Scan® technology.
The Alpha-Scan® advantage : With Alpha-Scan®, breeders have access to tomography, which, with the help of a scanner, allows professionals to evaluate the complete body composition of the livestock. It measures with extreme precision the real amount of muscle, fat and bone present in a given swine’s body. This in-depth analysis offers producers the immense advantage of guiding the selection of livestock. It also allows producers to give animals the proper care to obtain rapid growth and optimal meat yield. Please note: all our bloodlines are analyzed with this technology.
A unique scientific approach
The fact that the bloodlines of our swine demonstrate remarkable performance characteristics is in part due to AlphaGene’s unique scientific approach: Alpha-Scan® technology.
The Alpha-Scan® advantage: With Alpha-Scan®, breeders have access to tomography, which, with the help of a scanner, allows professionals to evaluate the complete body composition of the livestock. It measures with extreme precision the real amount of muscle, fat and bone present in a given swine’s body. This in-depth analysis offers producers the immense advantage of guiding the selection of livestock. It also allows producers to give animals the proper care to obtain rapid growth and optimal meat yield. Please note: all our bloodlines are analyzed with this technology.
Individual feeding stations
At AlphaGene, breeding stock is selected according to their true food conversion rate. Thanks to individual feeding stations, we can precisely measure daily food consumption for each pure blood animal throughout the growth period. Each one is also weighed at regular intervals. By combining this data, we can obtain true food conversion rates.
The result? Greater precision in the choice of top breeding animals and animals offered to our partners in insemination centres.
Food quality tests
Thanks to being part of Olymel, AlphaGene has the advantage of having a profound knowledge of the needs and expectations of consumers in more than 65 countries throughout the world. The company can thus adjust animal production to suit each market. This ensures a promising future for those who use its bloodlines.
With this in mind, AlphaGene undertakes a systematic evaluation of its meat. Thus the company is able to establish the best possible balance between market demands and production costs.
For example, at the slaughterhouse, tests involving the yield of various cuts and qualities of meat validate genetic improvement: pH, colour, marbling, iodine value, etc. are precisely measured. This information makes it possible to evaluate and improve the profitability of each bloodline.
Genomics
AlphaGene also relies on genomics. A small piece of tissue is removed from each animal in order to extract its DNA. Thus, genealogical data of the animal can be compared with its performance, and, over time, the bloodline can be improved.
Currently the technology used to link DNA to animal performance is the SNP chip. This technique speeds up genetic improvement by 25%. At AlphaGene, all pure blood animals are genotyped at birth in order to identify the breeding stock with the greatest genetic potential.
Food research
For more than 15 years, AlphaGene has been
undertaking food testing on the ALPHA female during gestation. Since nutritional needs evolve with the genetic development of the animals – which is continuous – these tests allow for the adjustment of food according to genetic improvement.
As soon as they enter the research farm, the sows are weighed and the thickness of dorsal fat is measured. This data is collected at each stage of the gestation cycle (insemination, birth and weaning) and for each successive litter. The piglets are also individually measured at birth and at weaning. All of this contributes to a complete record.
AlphaGene’s partners therefore have at their disposal a precise knowledge of the nutritional needs of their sows, at each stage of their cycle. Thus they can obtain the highest levels of productivity.