Artificial insemination highlighted at IMV seminar

The Third IMV Reproduction Seminar held in Deauville, France, recently drew over 150 professionals from both the bovine and swine artificial insemination industries for two days of technical talks and equipment demonstrations.
Participants from 33 countries enjoyed the presentations from international speakers as well as the display IMV Technologies’ latest solutions:


• Genom’X, the unique “Zero Loss” straw filling machine
• OptiXcell, the latest protein-free, ready-to-use bovine extender, which performs as an egg yolk medium
• GTB1000V3, the last generation of the IMV swine semen packaging machine
• IVOS 2 and the complete line of semen analysis solutions 
Dr. Pascale Chavatte, INRA, started the conference by discussing epigenetics and its potential impact on the pig industry. Then, Dr. Gary Althouse, University of Pennsylvania, and Marleen Broekhuijse, Topigs Norsvin, CRV, presented the benefits of the latest semen analysis technologies. Ludivine Chevrier , IMV Technologies, unveiled the diagnostic solution developed with Alice and CRV to estimate the fertility potential of bovine semen, by using CASA and flow cytometry. Dr. Jonathan Statham, RAFT Solution, presented how Raft, a network of veterinary clinics in the U.K., is proposing a semen analysis services to local farmers.
Andreas Fleisch, ETH, Zürich, presented a summary of the research done in Switzerland on bovine extender. Jane Morell , SLU, and Arantxa Echegaray, Humeco, discussed the future of antibiotics in swine extender. Bruno Nihouarn, Cobiporc,  gave a presentation about the benefit of the Collectis as a solution to reduce bacterial contamination in boar semen while Michael Kleve-Feld, PIC, presented his experience in troubleshooting bacterial contamination in boar studs.
Kristina McDonald, Select Sires, presented her experience dealing with mycoplasma.
Dr. Eric Schmitt, IMV Technologies, ended the day by revealing IMV’s practical use of smart plastics in boar and bull semen packaging.

Danish boar semen company Hatting-KS sold

Feed premix company Vilomix has taken ownership of Danish boar semen provider Hatting-KS. The change in ownership has been approved by Denmark's competition council.
Hatting-KS was previously co-owned by pork processors Danish Crown and Tican. Vilomix Holding is a joint subsidiary of farm merchant groups Danish Agro and Vestjyllands Andel.
A condition of the acquisition is that Hatting-KS sells its veterinary products distribution arm Hatting-Vet to national trading company 3S.
Christian Junker, chief executive of Danish Agro and chairman of Vilomix Holding, said the group looked forward to using its experience to give even greater strength to the market position of Hatting-KS, both nationally and internationally.

Vilomix buys majority shares of Hatting-KS

The majority shareholding in Denmark's Hatting-KS, Europe's largest supplier of boar semen, is being acquired by the Vilomix subsidiary of feed manufacturers Danish Agro and Vestjyllands Andel.
Vilomix is buying 60 percent of the shares, with the pork processing group Danish Crown retaining its 40 percent stake.
The new joint ownership structure aims to support Hatting-KS in developing its business further within Europe. The company in 2012 invested in activities in Germany.

Trials start for sex-sorted semen

A method to analyze boar semen by computer is starting field trials. UK developer Ovasort Ltd. said it will enable breeders to pre-select the sex of pigs.
The company has discovered sex-linked proteins on the surface of sperm cells of both pigs and cattle. From this, it has developed a prototype product to identify and separate the male and female cells for each sex in both species.
Trials of the semen sexing technology will begin in Scandinavia by Danish Pig Production, the worldwide licensee for the pig sector. Patent applications have been filed for the Ovasort technology and the company is in discussions with companies to extend its commercialization in the cattle sector.