On this late April 2023 day, the sun is out, there is a pleasant murmur, beer is poured, sandwiches are exchanged, and the gene transfer facility (GTC) Allen is admired.
This youngest GTC follows the "A" rule and regulates. The new site is a "bunker"—nothing should enter.
Pig Progress was one of the final "non-essential" guests to see this brand-new boar facility north of Solsona, Catalonia, Spain. The farm received 300 maternal and terminal boars in late May 2023.
PIC and Semen Cardona collaborated on the facility. PIC owns genetics, whereas Semen Cardona owns the building, people, and on-site technology.
In 2017, the two businesses began building the first Spanish GTC. GTC Alpha was erected at Tarazona in Aragón, northeastern Spain, which is famed for its pig industry.
That farm's idea inspired Catalonia's. PIC's Spain strategy aligns with GTC Allen's construction.
Since the country leads Europe in pig production and has large, well-organized pig integrators, PIC saw its huge potential.
The genetics corporation wants to consolidate the swine genetics market there.
Wilson Pineda, PIC's southern Europe director, says PIC started selling in Spain in 2014.