Founded in 1989, Rotech was incorporated in its present form in 1994. From the outset, our aim was to specialise in “On-Farm A.I.”, providing all the equipment, training and full back-up for pig breeders wanting to collect and process semen from their own boars. We felt at that time that porcine A.I. was being sold as too complicated for farmers to undertake themselves. There were no systems, and little equipment existed to make it an economical and practical proposition for a breeder.

We have developed a range of equipment especially aimed at the smaller producer, although many of our farmer customers produce more than 500 doses per week. Such has been our success that we estimate in the year 2001, our customers produced approximately 30% of all pigs born in UK.

There can be considerable cost-savings available to On-Farm A.I. users. Not only can doses be produced more cheaply than they can be bought commercially, but on average, our customers expect better results. In practice, British On-Farm A.I. users achieve a 5% improvement in conception rates when compared with those using bought-in semen. And it really is very simple, saving both time and money.

Although our speciality is bringing simple, economical systems to small volume producers, we have also equipped many commercial studs in different parts of the world.

Rotech pioneered the use of single-use, disposable items in semen processing. The heart of our system is the Sembag, a two ply polythene bag, available with either 3 Litre or 5 Litre capacity, within which all diluent preparation and semen processing takes place. The simplicity of the Sembag System is a major reason for its success. With the single exception of one thermometer, everything which comes into contact with semen is a single-use, disposable item. This removes from the operator much of the responsibility for hygiene, upon which the success of A.I. will depend.

In co-operation with manufacturers such as IMV and Minitüb, we have developed equipment to fill and seal all of the different types of single dose pack used today, thereby enabling users to specify the type of container they prefer.

And, having inseminated the sow, the next job is to confirm pregnancy. The Rotech PregTector Doppler pregnancy detector has a well-deserved reputation as the easiest to use Doppler on the market. Housed in a silicone-rubber case, it is virtually immune to shock damage, and is designed to be easily serviceable by your local distributor, without the need for specialist tools or electronic knowledge.