AMES, Iowa – Identifying, selecting, and managing the right gilts for an operation is a driving factor in that farm’s productivity. A new video series from Iowa Pork Industry Center focuses on a variety of aspects related to gilt development packaged in easy to watch format. Iowa State University extension swine specialist Matt Romoser created the eight-part series.  

“Properly developing and selecting gilts is critically important to optimize performance and profitability for the breeding herd,” Romoser said. “With gilts making up the largest subset of the herd, maximizing retention rate can help increase overall farm productivity as well as the percentage of sows that reach their breakeven point at parity three.”

The eight videos in this series range from about 5 to 16 minutes, with general topics ranging from nutrition and environment to breeding eligibility and reproductive tract development. They cover ideal and desirable traits, and include basic recommendations.

“The goal of this series is to provide producers and other members of the industry with practical and current information on the matter,” Romoser said. “The target audience is sow farm owners and managers as well as farm employees. It is also meant to educate those in allied industries as well.”

The video series is available on the IPIC YouTube channel as Gilt Development Series Playlist and on the IPIC website under the gilt development heading.

This article was written by IPIC student communications assistant Lauren Beyer.

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IPIC was established in 1994 as a coordinated effort of the colleges of Agriculture (now Agriculture and Life Sciences) and Veterinary Medicine at ISU. Its mission is to promote efficient pork production technologies in Iowa, maintain Iowa's pork industry leadership and strengthen rural development efforts. IPIC focuses its efforts on programs that are integral and complementary to ISU Extension and Outreach. Through IPIC, Iowa producers receive accurate and timely information to make their operations more efficient and profitable.