| Pigs
UK pig stud secures biggest ever
export order to China
The UK has received its largest ever export order from China for frozen boar semen, in a
deal which also involves training Chinese staff in artificial insemination (AI) and semen
handling.
eerpark Pedigree
Pigs in Northern
Ireland has
secured the order
which will ship in
January and be
followed by further consignments
over the months and years ahead.
The order has come off the
back of extensive work on the part
of brothers, Nigel and Robert
Overend, who own the Deerpark
Stud, with support from the
Department for International Trade
(DIT) and UK Tag, the export arm
of the British Pig Association
(BPA).
Over the years, the Overend
family has perfected the process
of freezing pig semen, a product
with which their top-performing
customers are now achieving
conception rates as high as 100
per cent.
Freezing boar semen to reach
this level of performance has
eluded the pig industry for many
years, but the Overend family was
early to adopt the process and has
spent decades fine-tuning best-
practice techniques for freezing,
thawing and inseminating the
semen.
D
Although their freezing process
remains a closely-guarded secret
within their Londonderry-based
company, the brothers are now in
keen demand around the world to
provide tuition in handling and
insemination.
The most recent Chinese order
for 2,000 straws will follow smaller
shipments, in a sequence of
events which is typical for the
company when new customers
come on board.
“This customer started with a
small order of 100 straws in order
to test the water,” says Nigel
Overend. “When they were
confident they would achieve high
conception rates, they moved on
to much larger orders.”
Semen from these shipments
will be largely destined for Chinese
multiplication units which produce
high genetic merit breeding stock
for commercial herds.
“In many cases, the technicians
trained by Deerpark are achieving
conception rates far beyond
anything they have had from any
other country before,” adds Robert
Overend.
The most recent order to China
is the third the brothers will have
shipped to the same company and
one of many orders which have
recently been destined for the Far
East. Others include a significant
order which left the UK for
Thailand last month.
Further interest in Deerpark
comes from the rare and minority
breeds which are banked at the
stud alongside the commercially
important Large White and British
Landrace.
This stems from the fact that the
British Pig Association and the
Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST)
have designated the Deerpark
Stud as the centre for their breed
conservation programmes. This
means orders can also be fulfilled
for breeds such as the Large
Black, Berkshire, Gloucestershire
Old Spots, British Lop, Middle
White and Oxford Sandy & Black.
In total, the company has seen
a 300 per cent increase in its
frozen semen sales over the past
two years. A large proportion of
this growth is attributed to export
orders, a demand which has
developed following the
company’s ongoing presence at
international trade events.
Events the brothers have
attended include Viv Asia in
Thailand, World Pork Expo in the
USA and Agrilink in the
Philippines. Their presence at
these and other exhibitions has
been supported by the BPA, the
UK government’s DIT as well as
embassies around the world.
“The DIT and the BPA have
been hugely important in
supporting the UK presence at
these events,” says Mr Overend.
“They set up the stands and
provide interpreters, and we just
turn up with the information about
our product.
“It’s proven to be very
successful for us and with the
uncertainty over Brexit, it will be
more important in the future to be
seen on the international stage,”
he says.
As a result of the significant
increase in demand, Deerpark
Pedigree Pigs is now undergoing
expansion of its current stud and
existing