Innovation into action – A British Breeders take

Dr Craig Lewis, Commercial Director North Europe, PIC Europe and Sir John Hammond Award Recipient 2025, awarded by BISAS and BCBC

Agriculture and society are changing. Efficiency is, and has always been important, but adaption is key. The next agricultural ‘revolution’ is speeding up the rate of change, driven by multiple new and disruptive technologies, combined with the increasing demands that society places on our food system to continue to deliver higher standards in a cost-effective way. As Jack Bobo said at the 2026 Oxford Farming Conference: ‘The next 25 years in agriculture are not only the most important there have ever been, but they are the most important that there ever will be’.

To understand where we are going and why new technology will have such an impact, we must understand the basis of how genetic gain is created. Genetic improvement for all genetic species (and companies) revolves around four key principles:

• Large and diverse populations
• Measuring what you want to improve
• Utilisation of best science
• Selection in a market relevant direction

Any genetic provider aims to deliver excellence in all of these key buckets in addition to a pipeline of R&D on emerging technologies. So how do we, at PIC and also thinking wider, turn these principles from theory and put them into action:

Large and diverse populations

Not one size fits all! Different systems do have different needs, to only have one sow or one sire assumes a stable industry, and we know markets change and that different environments have different requirements. At PIC we have 4 dam lines and 4 core sire lines which can all be used pure or cross to meet different environments or markets. Given these populations you then need scale to drive selection intensity. A by-product of being the largest global breeding company is that we can support very large pure populations (example: we have over 9000 Duroc sows at nucleus level) to drive ongoing gain and provide within population diversity.

Measure what you want to improve

The world is changing. Relying on measuring traits only in nucleus populations is now the past. At PIC we measure crossbred traits both on the dam lines and the sire lines in a very deliberate and detailed way, to ensure performance is assessed where it counts – on commercial farms across purebred and crossbred pigs. This more diversified data capture is combined with new tools that utilise digital images and artificial intelligence to give greater accuracy than ever before in breeding programmes. How we measure is more consistent, more detailed, and in more global locations than ever before, so we know how families and specific genes perform given different environments.

Utilization of best science

Genomics is not a simple science that is either used or not. It is an ongoing and developing area. The PIC program has scale and scope that is unmatched in the livestock space, with multiple pure and crossbred animals genotyped that 1) create a robust and accurate breeding programme today, 2) utilise the selection on specific gene markers (like those for E-Coli F4 and F18 resistance), and 3) provide a base for ongoing research into the genome, using full sequence information that can be overlayed with biological data.

Select on what matters. At PIC we don’t believe that one area of production is more important than the other. What matters is the overall profitability of the pork chain. From creating a quality dose of semen, to a customer enjoying a tasty bite of pork, the full chain is under selection to support a sustainable industry. We believe in four buckets that contribute to this value creation: 1) sow herd productivity, which is the creation of large litters of quality piglets at least cost, 2) fast and efficient growth in all stages so we can convert feed to gain efficiently, 3) robustness, to ethically drive throughput and more kgs of output in the system overall, and 4), carcass value and quality, to create a full value carcass with meat quality that drives consumer demand.

Innovation in agriculture is nothing new. Indeed, as far back as Robert Bakewell’s time, innovations such as simple selective breeding was hugely impacting farmers. Indeed, technologies such as artificial insemination developed by Sir John Hammond have been major disruptors. What is different now is the rate and scale of change. While the fundamentals of genetic improvement described above remain the same, how we collect and use data given the new context of artificial intelligence – not even mentioning the commercial production impacts – will define the next 5+ years of animal breeding developments.

In terms of innovation already being developed in PIC, we continue to drive the next generation of tools that will be the new baseline in global pig genetic programmes. Whether it is the further development of digital tools (driven by artificial intelligence), ongoing research in omics areas such as metabolomics, microbiome, or gene expression, or next generation use of big data – both in-house (over 45 PhD level animal scientists internally and over £30 Million yearly net spend on product development) and in collaboration with the best global universities – we lead the industry in innovative science. This is without mentioning paradigm shifting technologies such as gene editing.

Gene editing has the potential to be the next single largest technological disruptor in the agricultural space. From plants (forage/crops) to all livestock species, the potential for change is likely beyond our current understanding. From drought-resistant or nitrogen fixing crops, to disease resistant or surrogate sire animals, the potential to redefine current production systems and redefine boundaries is both exciting and complex. Considering the pace of change not only in the technology but also the legislative space on this topic, it will be something the sector needs to address proactively rather than engaging reactively.

One challenge innovation always faces is letting go of the past. As breeders, we are often faced with comments like ‘I have always done it this way’ or ‘this is my way of life’. We must continue to identify and change mindsets and processes that limit the ability of agricultural businesses to drive positive change. It is the responsibility of everyone in the sector, regardless of level, to challenge, communicate, and question for the benefit of all stakeholders. While traditions and lifestyle are important, agriculture has always been a business and always adapted. Perhaps the biggest agricultural tradition that has not been celebrated enough is adaptation?

The bottom line is that a great deal is changing in the UK and global pig industry, and as a British company we are a proud part of the British pig sector. As the pig industry changes, we need to meet new demands on sustainability, welfare, and simplicity of use given on-farm labour challenges, while also remaining the most cost-effective pig in order to drive ultimate profitability for customers. At PIC, we believe we have the products, people, science, and partners to deliver success, not only short term but as long term partners.

Regardless of species, animal genetics has a lot of overlap... We can all learn from each other and working together and not against each other is key. We all share the common goal of providing safe, sustainable, nutritious, and tasty animal products to the global population.