Genetic advances offer the potential to breed pigs that are inherently healthier and more resilient, reducing welfare problems at the fundamental biological level.
Genetics shapes welfare as profoundly as environment. Pigs with genetic advantages in disease resistance, stress tolerance, and robustness have better welfare throughout their lives regardless of management. Incorporating welfare traits into genetic selection indices creates long-term, population-wide welfare improvement that compounds over generations. The challenge is developing validated welfare trait measures that can be incorporated into commercial genomic selection programmes.