Copiso develops a demanding and rigorous genetic selection of its pig production, both in white layer and Iberian. This allows self-sufficiency with the best breeding sows and entry into a national and international market. The cooperative sells 60% of these sows and exports to European countries such as Italy, Germany, or Portugal. In 2024, it raised 52,000 white layer breeders, of which more than 25% have stayed for Copiso’s farms. The rest are marketed through Pig Improvement Company (PIC), a pig improvement company with which we are associated. To that figure, about 8,000 Iberian sows must be added, making a total of 60,000.
Genetic selection requires good health assurance. “These sows are born with a loaf of bread under their arm,” explains veterinarian Guillermo Moreno, as their great productive potential and the fact that they are disease-free make them very valuable. They are protected on farms with all the biosecurity tools that can be implemented. Genetic nuclei that are far from other facilities to prevent the appearance of diseases.
Each mother has a quantified genetic value. In this index, productive data and morphological characteristics of the animal, its offspring, or its ancestors are reflected. It is decided which mother to cross with which male to get the best offspring. At Copiso, no genetic modification is carried out, but selection and crossing of the best animals. It seeks that the mothers have at least 14 teats or a very good physical structure.
The animal welfare standards offered by Copiso are well above the community regulations. An R&D&I space that has more specialized personnel for high-quality work. The cooperative has a very demanding program to evaluate genetic selection, feeding, or management on farms. A program that is audited by the renowned company OCA Global, which ensures with its traceability certificate the correct management of that production. It also has the Welfair animal welfare certificate.
In Copiso’s genetic or multiplier farms, two breeds of mothers are crossed: Landrace, which produces a lot of milk, and Large White, which has a lot of prolificacy. The result is a future breeder with great potential. Guillermo Moreno explains that “in the females we produce, we look for the best reproductive characteristics, and the semen with which we cover them comes from males that will provide good meat quality and growth.”
“Our goal is to produce the best females in terms of productivity and health, and there, feeding and animal welfare play a very important role in being able to select the best animals: healthy pigs with great genetic potential,” says Moreno. A statement based on research he conducted on feeding piglets in the first days of life. A study that has improved the survival rates of these animals, reducing the mortality of lactating pigs. He sought that in addition to surviving, the piglets had good growth, and for this, he studied the ability of the animals to access colostrum and the amount they ingested according to their birth weight.