Strat-OekoS: Strategies for breeding programs under organic pig production
Funding
Strat-OekoS (Strategies for the development of a breeding program under organic conditions for conventional pig breeding lines) is a joint research project that develops and tests practical breeding strategies tailored to organic pig farming. The project addresses a key challenge in the sector: most breeding values for AI boars are currently estimated from offspring raised under conventional conditions, even though performance and robustness can differ substantially in organic systems due to genotype × environment (G×E) interactions.
- Funded within the framework of the Federal Program for Organic Farming (BÖL), under the call 08/23/33 on “Improvement and further development of sustainable production systems in organic pig farming.”
Project partners
Joint project partners
- Georg-August-Universität Göttingen – Division of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Department of Animal Sciences, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 3, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
- Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen – Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Chair of Animal Breeding, Ludwigstrasse 21b, 35390 Giessen, Germany
- BHZP GmbH – Federal Hybrid Breeding Program (breeding organization / implementation partner), An der Wassermühle 8, 21368 Dahlenburg–Ellringen, Germany
Associated partner
- University of Bonn (UBO) – Institute of Animal Sciences, Division of Animal Genetics, Endenicher Allee 15, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
Project description
Strat-OekoS aims to build the foundation for an organic-relevant breeding approach using conventional pig lines by creating a structured progeny-testing system under organic conditions, conducted in parallel with conventional testing to ensure direct comparability. The project’s core goals are to generate high-quality phenotypic datasets with consistent animal identification and traceability from birth to slaughter, to systematically describe the production environment by monitoring key housing and climate parameters (e.g., temperature, humidity, NH and Ammonia) and analyzing feed composition, and to integrate genomic information to strengthen breeding value estimation across contrasting environments. Building on these data streams, Strat-OekoS will quantify genotype × environment (G×E) interactions using multi-environment and reaction norm models, and evaluate how genomic selection could improve robustness and performance under organic management. In addition, breeding program simulations using MoBPS will assess the expected genetic progress, economic efficiency, and practical feasibility of incorporating organic-specific recording and genotyping into routine breeding programs. Overall, the project is expected to deliver implementable recommendations for breeding organizations and farms, enabling more reliable AI boar selection for organic systems, supporting targeted improvements in animal health and welfare, and increasing resilience of organic pig production under variable climate and feeding conditions.