Research aims to help with boar heat stress

In utero heat stress of boars is a significant threat to pork production, and a University of Nebraska reproductive physiologist is leading a research team that aims to develop boars that are more genetically tolerant of gestational heat stress. In the United States, about 6 million sows a year produce a litter after exposure to gestational heat stress, a threat that is increasing with climate change. At an average of 11 animals in a litter, that’s 66 million piglets affected each year in the U.S. alone, according to a university news release.