# UK researchers probe hidden swine crisis with $650K grant  
**Published:** 2026-04-29T14:44:47.000Z  
**Source:** [University of Kentucky News](https://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-researchers-tackle-hidden-crisis-modern-pig-production)  
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**Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/uk-researchers-probe-hidden-swine-crisis-with-650k-grant

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A University of Kentucky reproductive biologist is leading an ambitious four-year study to investigate what may be the swine industry's most pressing yet largely invisible problem: the mismatch between how many piglets modern sows now conceive and how many their bodies can adequately support during pregnancy.

Jonathan Pasternak, associate professor in the [Department of Animal and Food Sciences](https://afs.ca.uky.edu/) at the [Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment](https://www.ca.uky.edu/), received a [$650,000 grant](https://scholars.uky.edu/en/projects/developmental-impact-of-uterine-crowding-in-the-contemporary-sow/) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture to study intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in contemporary sows. The project runs through January 2030 with assistance from assistant professors Coral Kent-Dennis and Katherine Halloran.

Decades of aggressive genetic selection have pushed litter sizes in commercial swine operations to historic highs, with top producers averaging nearly 16 piglets per litter and some genetic lines reaching 40 ovulation rates. However, while geneticists have successfully increased embryo production, the physical capacity of the uterus has remained stagnant.

"Ovulation rate is exceptionally heritable, but uterine capacity can't keep pace," Pasternak said in a statement. "We now have sows producing more piglets in a litter than they have nipples to nurse them."

The result is IUGR, a condition where piglets are genetically programmed for normal growth but are nutrient-starved in the womb. Unlike traditional runts, IUGR piglets carry the genetic potential for efficient development but are compromised by overcrowding. [Research indicates that IUGR can affect up to 30 percent of a contemporary litter](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731125001739) and accounts for the overwhelming majority of preweaning mortality, with surviving animals growing less efficiently and rarely reaching market weight.

The condition has major economic implications. "From a pure reproductive standpoint, this is arguably the biggest issue facing the swine industry today," Pasternak said.

Pasternak's team will track fetal development at sequential gestation stages, measuring how individual organ systems diverge between crowded and uncrowded environments. The research aims to identify precise developmental windows when crowding begins to derail growth and investigate why some piglets appear naturally resistant to the effects of overcrowding.

The goal is not to reverse genetic progress but to inform it. If researchers can identify genetic and physiological markers that make some piglets more resilient to crowding, producers may eventually be able to maintain high litter sizes while avoiding the welfare and economic costs of IUGR.

The research will use [UK's swine research facilities](https://afs.mgcafe.uky.edu/research/labs-facilities), producing a tissue and sample archive that Pasternak hopes will benefit collaborators across campus. Since [IUGR is also a human health issue](https://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-researchers-tackle-hidden-crisis-modern-pig-production), the samples generated may prove valuable to other researchers at UK and beyond studying fetal growth restriction in humans.

## Sources

- [University of Kentucky News](https://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-researchers-tackle-hidden-crisis-modern-pig-production)
- [Review: Intrauterine growth restriction, diagnosis and physiological characterisation in pigs](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731125001739)
- [Labs & Facilities | Animal & Food Sciences](https://afs.mgcafe.uky.edu/research/labs-facilities)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from University of Kentucky News, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-researchers-tackle-hidden-crisis-modern-pig-production.