Author wrote:
Here's some really rugged Truth!
It seems a Gwaltney (Gwaltney's bought by Smithfield) descendent sent some semen to the U.K to test some pork quality issues:
http://www.ext.vt.edu/news/periodicals/livestock/aps-97_01/aps-737.html
Gwaltney Gift Creates Unique Opportunity to Study
Pork Quality
Livestock Update, January 1997
Allen Harper, Extension Specialist, Swine, Tidewater AREC
The Gwaltney name has been associated with fine Virginia pork products for over 100 years.
This tradition continues today with the Gwaltney of Smithfield plant producing and marketing a
variety of pork products throughout the United States. A recent financial gift by Mrs. Henrietta C.
Gwaltney, a member of the family that founded the Gwaltney packing plant, has provided a
unique opportunity to fund useful research for the pork industry.
An interdepartmental team of faculty consisting of Cindy Wood (Animal and Poultry Sciences),
Jim Claus (Food Science and Technology) and Allen Harper (Tidewater Agricultural Research
and Extension Center) has the responsibility of developing and conducting a project which
focuses on the gift's intent of beneficial "swine improvement research." Brent Green, a recent
graduate of Animal Science at Kansas State, is also working on the project as part of his master's
degree program.
The project seeks answers on two important swine industry concerns. First, market pigs that are
carriers of the "stress gene" (also referred to as Halothane 1843 carrier pigs) are known to
produce carcasses with less external fat and heavier muscling than their non-stress gene
contemporaries. However, research also suggests that stress gene carrier pigs may produce pork
cuts that are paler in color and subject to shrinking and excess drying when processed and
cooked. Currently there is debate in the industry as to whether the stress gene should be
strategically used to produce leaner carcasses or totally eliminated by selection to avoid possible
pork quality problems.
Our project will involve breeding approximately 24 sows for two consecutive farrowings to
produce at least 160 test pigs. These terminal market pigs will be sired by full-sib stress gene
carrier boars, making them genetically similar in all respects except that half of the pigs will be
stress gene carriers and half stress gene free. This approach will provide an opportunity to
accurately evaluate effects of the stress gene on pig performance, carcass fat and lean content,
and pork muscle processing quality.
A second component of the project is to evaluate addition of trace mineral chromium to the
mineral supplement for both genotypes of pigs. Feeding and carcass evaluation trials at Virginia
Tech and other land-grant universities have shown some improvement in feed conversion, backfat
depth and muscling with chromium supplementation from an organic chromium source called
chromium picolinate. This product was recently approved by FDA as safe to include in swine
feeds. But, there is still a deficiency of information on how the product may impact pork
processing and cooking qualities or performance of market pigs sired by extremely lean, stress
gene carrier boars.
In November of 1995, the project got underway with the artificial mating of 28 sows at
Tidewater AREC swine unit in Suffolk. Semen was collected for these matings from 2 littermate
stress gene carrier boars at a commercial boar stud in Michigantown, Indiana. From the litters
produced by these matings, a portion of each piglets' docked tail was assayed under the direction
of Eric Wong at the Animal and Poultry Sciences Biotechnology Lab to determine stress gene
carrier status. Once stress gene status was established, feeding trials were conducted followed by
carcass and muscle quality evaluations at the Food Science and Technology Meats Lab. This
same process is currently being repeated on a second set of pigs produced by the same stress
gene carrier boars. Overall results of the study will be available in late Spring of 1997.
This effort is unique in that it will provide beneficial information that can impact the complete
process of pork production, from conception to processing of edible product. We are excited
about this collaborative effort and about the valuable information it will provide to the swine
industry. We are also appreciate of Mrs. Gwaltney's gift which makes it possible.
Burkie in Kansas