Aisling Holmes, Research Technician at the Teagasc Pig Research Facility (TPRF), gives an update on the farm’s performance in the first half of 2025.

Aisling compares the farrowing and weaning data with the same period in 2024, highlighting how the average number of pigs born alive has increased to 17, and how this has been successfully carried through to weaning, achieving an average of 14.5 pigs weaned per litter. She also notes improvements in weaning weights, which have risen to 8.7 kg, yielding roughly 126 kg of weaned pig per sow.

Aisling explains that, despite the constraints of the three-week batch system and ongoing research trials, the team is close to the maximum production levels they can sustain while maintaining animal health and body condition throughout the cycle.

For more information, watch the video below:

Find out more about the work of the Teagasc Pig Development Department here.