SINTEF: Simpler insemination routines for pigs

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After a five-year research programme, Norwegian scientists have developed a method for extending the shelf life of pig semen. Unlike bull semen for use in artificial insemination, which can be can be frozen at minus 172 °C and stored indefinitely, pig semen must be diluted and stored as a liquid. The shelf life is only a few days and the timeframe for insemination is also limited. Identifying the period when the sow is fertile is difficult, and farmers need to inspect the animals regularly.

Achieving simpler insemination routines is a key objective for Geno and Norsvin, Norway’s two national cattle-, horse- and pig-rearing organisations. “The timeframe from when pig sperm is extracted until it must be used is five days,” says Ann Helen Gaustad  a researchers at Norsvin. “Extending this by one to two days would be extremely significant.”

The two organisations began working with SINTEF in 2003 to find a way of maintaining the potency of pig semen. Now they have come up with a technique for holding the sperm cells in an alginate gel. The cells can then be stored until the gel is inseminated into the animal.

This confirms the hypothesis that restricting the movement of the tails of sperm cells, as is the case in the animal’s testicles, extends their life span. Geir Klinkenberg at SINTEF said, “We restrict the movements by using the gel, and the results to date are good. Longer storage [life] prolongs the lifespan of the sperm population in the uterus.”

A trial will take place next spring. Around 1,000 animals will be inseminated using the new method to see if better results are achieved than with today’s conventional methods.