Methods for use of sex sorted semen to improve genetic management in swine

A method of increasing genetic merit in a population of swine comprising:

• identifying selection candidates comprising males and females in the population;
• determining i) the optimum genetic contribution for each selection candidate for the production of male progeny and ii) the optimum genetic contribution for each selection candidate for the production of female progeny;
• selecting male and female selection candidates for mating based on their determined optimum genetic contribution for the production of male progeny or their determined optimum genetic contribution for the production of female progeny;
• establishing male subgroups among the selected selection candidates based on age or genetic merit, or establishing female subgroups among the selected selection candidates based on parity or genetic merit;
• establishing a mating subtype, wherein the mating subtype comprises i) one of the female subgroups and one or more males from the selected selection candidates or ii) one of the male subgroups and one or more females from the selected selection candidates;
• determining a percentage of male progeny for the mating subtype, or a percentage of female progeny for the mating subtype, that would result in an increase in genetic merit in the next generation relative to a control, wherein in the control, approximately 50% of progeny are male;
• and
• inseminating one or more females in the mating subtype with a sex sorted sperm cell sample from a male in the mating subtype to achieve the percentage of progeny that are male, or the percentage of progeny that are female, determined to increase genetic merit relative to the control.