Swine genetics companies stand together as AcuFast

Jun 02, 2023

Acuity and Fast Genetics partner to create a joint brand.

By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Image of the AcuFast Vantage maternal genetic line.

Acuity and Fast Genetics, two swine genetics companies wholly owned by STgenetics, have partnered and created a new joint brand business, AcuFast.

STgenetics entered the swine genetics business when it purchased Fast Genetics in 2015 from HyLife, a Canadian-based pork producer and processor. STgenetics recently expanded its swine enterprise by purchasing Acuity in February 2022 from the Maschhoffs, a large family-owned pork producer based in the US.

Since the purchase of Acuity, the companies have worked to determine how to best combine their teams, infrastructure, products, and resources. As a result, the coalition has introduced a new infrastructure that allows for a greater product offering, a superior technology platform, and a combined technical solutions team that will better enable AcuFast’s partners to succeed.

The name AcuFast represents what they will deliver to the industry; the name combines the words “accuracy” and “fast”, two key components of the genetic improvement equation. The name was also selected to encompass the legacy of both brands: “Acu” for acuity, meaning sharpness of thought, and “Fast” to pay homage to the 41-year-old business founded by Dr. Harold Fast.

The successful combining of these companies was made possible through the leadership of Dr. Gregg BeVier, the previous Chief Executive Officer of Fast Genetics, and the current Chief Operating Officer of STgenetics.

AcuFast is now led by Francisco Bobadilla, the Executive Vice President and Head of AcuFast and Genetic Visions. The senior leadership remains the same: Shannon Meyers, Vice President of Operations and Customer Success, and Dr. Clint Schwab, Vice President of Technology and Customer Success.

AcuFast is structured to transform the pork industry and enable its partners to succeed.

“Through empowering people and integrating proprietary technology, we deliver realized value to pork producers and contribute to a thriving and sustainable future,” Bobadilla said. “AcuFast continues to work closely with its parent company, STgenetics, combining its resources to offer an integrated and differentiated approach to customer success.“

Company information may be found at www.acufastswine.com.

Video: US Soy: Pig growth is impaired by soybean meal displacement in the diet

Eric van Heugten, PhD, professor and swine extension specialist at North Carolina State University, recently spoke at the Iowa Swine Day Pre-Conference Symposium, titled Soybean Meal 360°: Expanding our horizons through discoveries and field-proven feeding strategies for improving pork production. The event was sponsored by Iowa State University and U.S. Soy.

Soybean meal offers pig producers a high-value proposition. It’s a high-quality protein source, providing essential and non-essential amino acids to the pig that are highly digestible and palatable. Studies now show that soybean meal provides higher net energy than current National Research Council (NRC) requirements. Plus, soybean meal offers health benefits such as isoflavones and antioxidants as well as benefits with respiratory diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).

One of several ingredients that compete with the inclusion of soybean meal in pig diets is dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS).

“With DDGS, we typically see more variable responses because of the quality differences depending on which plant it comes from,” said Dr. van Heugten. “At very high levels, we often see a reduction in performance especially with feed intake which can have negative consequences on pig performance, especially in the summer months when feed intake is already low and gaining weight is at a premium to get them to market.”

Over the last few decades, the industry has also seen the increased inclusion of crystalline amino acids in pig diets.

“We started with lysine at about 3 lbs. per ton in the diet, and then we added methionine and threonine to go to 6 to 8 lbs. per ton,” he said. “Now we have tryptophan, isoleucine and valine and can go to 12 to 15 lbs. per ton. All of these, when price competitive, are formulated into the diet and are displacing soybean meal which also removes the potential health benefits that soybean meal provides.”