Pork Journal Nov/Dec 2012

PJNov/Dec2012:PJJanFeb09 4/01/13 3:16 PM Page 1

Pork Journal

November/December 2012 Volume 34, Number 6

Innovative changes key to success at Bourke piggery

Red tape threatening animal health?

APL Conference and AGM 2012

EuroTier 2012 – world’s top event for animal production

PrintPost Approved PP243096/00002 ISSN 1032 3759

PJNov/Dec2012:PJJanFeb09 4/01/13 3:16 PM Page 2

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Contents 8 MAIN FeATURe Innovative changes key to success at Bourke piggery In central Victoria, farmers John and Gail Bourke of JW & GE Bourke Pty Ltd, own and operate a 480 sow piggery. John is President of the VFF Pig Group and passionate about supporting Australian farmers and is very active in industry groups. He has recently introduced a number of innovative changes to his piggery operation.

News John Bourke, VFF Pig Group President

Pork Journal November/December 2012 Volume 34, Number 6 editorial enquiries Peter Bedwell or Rosemary embery +6 1 2 4368 2220 sales: Peter Bedwell Phone: +61 2 4368 2220 Mob: 0419 235 288 email: rembery@iinet.net.au website: www.primarymedia.com.au PORK JOURNAL consists of a bi-monthly management magazine and an annual industry review.

Published by C D supplies Pty Ltd (ACN 091 560 557)

Production: Rosemary embery email: rembery@iinet.net.au OFFICe ADDRess: 7 Kerns Road, Kincumber Nsw 2251 Ph: (02) 4368 2220 Mob: 0419235288 sUBsCRIPTIONs: AUsTRALIA One year – $66.00*. send payment and full details to: Pork Journal, GPO Box 1846, sydney Nsw 2001 Phone (02) 9492 7386 Fax: (02) 9492 7310 New ZeALAND One year – $NZ80.

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Please send payment in Australian dollars. *Australia subscription rate includes GsT.

CHANGe OF ADDRess: send details to: GPO Box 1846, sydney Nsw 2001, Fax: (02) 9492 7310 (subscriptions only).

ALL MATeRIAL COPYRIGHT (editorial and advertisements) and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publishers. whilst every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the contents of PORK JOURNAL, the publishers do not accept any responsibility or liability for the material herein.

4 APL Conference and AGM 2012 On Thursday November 15, an APL cocktail function was held at The Dinosaur walk, Melbourne Museum, prior to the APL Conference and AGM. 6 Berkshire Triticale a growing grain option in 2013 After four years of trials in western Australia, Murdoch University Professor John Pluske, who leads a Pork CRC project to increase awareness of Berkshire Triticale, said he believes it has benefits for the pig industry and also for the grain industry.

13 Australian vets release pig welfare guidelines The Australian Pig Veterinarians (APV), a special interest group of the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) has developed a set of guidelines to assist industry, private veterinarians and government to appropriately treat sick or injured pigs.

14 euroTier 2012 – world’s top event for animal production “with 2,445 exhibitors and around 160,000 visitors, including 38,000 international visitors, euroTier 2012 has reached new record level,” announced Dr Reinhard Grandke, Chief executive Officer of the organizer DLG, speaking to the press in Hanover at the close of euroTier on November 16, 2012.

18 Global pig nutrition experts envisage redefining pig nutrition at the Alltech China Pig Nutrition Meeting More than 270 key Chinese pig nutritionists and company leaders gathered in Guangzhou to attend the Alltech China Pig Nutritional Meeting in November. The two-day event provided a unique opportunity for attendees to interact with pig experts from around the world in order to discuss the real requirements today and future swine nutrition of the world’s largest pig producing country.

20 Ballarat Pig Industry Information Night During October selko, AusPac Ingredients and Reid stockfeeds sponsored a Victorian Farmers Federation Pig Industry Information Night. The night opened with Tony edwards from ACe Livestock Consulting speaking on the topic of ‘Keeping your focus kicking against the wind going into 2013’.

21 Red tape threatening animal health?

Australia’s capacity for animal health research and development (R&D) is facing a very real and serious threat, and not from where you might think, according to Dr Peter Holdsworth, Chief executive Officer of the Animal Health Alliance.

PRODUCT News 23 Nuscience appoints BEC Feed Solutions as distributor for Australia and New Zealand Nuscience and BeC Feed solutions will work closely together to introduce and sell the Aromabiotic product range in the pig, poultry and cattle market.

PORK JOURNAL, Nov/Dec 2012 3

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News APL Conference and AGM 2012 On Thursday November 15, an APL cocktail function was held at The Dinosaur Walk, Melbourne Museum, prior to the APL Conference and AGM. The night began with an introduction

by Enzo Allara, APL Chairman and concluded with ‘Professor Robert van Barneveld – Exposed’ a presentation by Christine Quick, APL GM Finance and Administration.

Professor Barneveld is stepping down from his position as a Director of APL after eight years. There were many friendly laughs shared during the presentation of photos and memories.

The APL Conference and AGM began early Friday morning and Emily Mackintosh, General Manager Communication, provided member information. There are 354 Full Members, 20 Corporate Members, and 12 Associate Producers Members.

These numbers represent 92% of production in Australia. The APL Delegates represent 84% of production.

“These are strong numbers in support of the Australian Pork Industry,” Ms Mackintosh told the conference.

“APL will begin its three yearly membership drive early in 2013 and encourages all industry parties to join up,” she said.

Mitch Edwards, Foodservice Marketing Manager and Peter Haydon, GM Marketing, provided a portfolio of recent advertisements running on television as well as an update on PorkMark, the definitive way to identify ham, bacon and other smallgoods containing Australian pork.

The consumer campaign is a winner, in that awareness has reached an all-time peak of 61%, so those that see the ads are able to recall that they watched the advertisements and recognize them.

Also, in support of Australian Pork, the message is changing to ‘Get some fresh pork on your fork’.

The good news is that while volume is stable fresh pork pricing continues to trend upwards, meaning consumer demand is growing.

PorkMark is gaining ground with the 372 licensed processors as well as consumer recognition. The pink ‘Australian Pork’ logo has a 45% awareness rating and 28% of those surveyed claim to have purchased in the last two months.

The Pork Supply Chain Integrity Program (PSCIP) was the focus of the after-

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PORK JOURNAL, Nov/Dec 2012

noon. This program is one of a number of cross divisional initiatives being progressed

by APL. It comprises a number of individual programs and projects within APL concerned with pork integrity and traceability and are supported by the product integrity R&D Program.

Andrew Spencer, APL CEO discussed the ‘building blocks’ to reassure consumers that pork is produced to a good standard and

that strengthening the pork industry’s integrity and traceability programs enhances the industry’s ability to meet domestic and overseas market requirements.

“There is a focus on working towards enhancing consumer demand for Australian fresh and processed pork through on-farm quality assurance programs such as the Australian Pork Industry Quality Program (APIQ), the Pork Supply Chain Integrity Program and PhysiTrace,” said Mr Spencer.

For further enquirers please contact Emalyn Loudon at APL or go to the website: www.australianpork.com.au

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3 1. LtoR: Paul Taylor, P&J Taylor Piggeries (Qld), John Riley; JCR Associates International; John Coward, APL Director. 2. Enzo Allara, APL Chairman (right) with Geoff Starr, newly appointed Specialist Director to the APL Board.

3. Dr Rob van Barneveld and Emalyn Loudon, APL. 4. Wayne Bradshaw, Jefo Australia with Neil Gannon, Biomin.

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Australia. PPAL0680/PJ AL0680 / PJ References: 1.. Ross Aust 3.. KKielstein Clin Microbiol 1992; R eferences: 1 Ross Bowles Bowles – DPI DPI pegpen, pegpen, 2002.

2002. 2. Rafiee Rafiee M, M, Blackall Blackall PJ. PJ. A ust Vet Ve Vet J 22000; 000; 78: 78: 172–174.

172–174. 3 ielstein P, P, Rapp-Gabrielson Rapp-Gabrielson VJ. VJ. J Cli Clin Mi M icrobiol 19 92; Aust Vet AAPV ust Ve Vet J 2010; 2010; 88: 88: 255–259.

255–259. 5. Cargill Cargill C, C, eett al al A APV proceedings proceedings 2002; 2002; 29-33 29-33 6.

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News Berkshire Triticale a growing grain option in 2013 Last season Dawson Bradford grew 500 hectares of Berkshire triticale at ‘Hillcroft Farms’ at Popanyinning in Western Australia’s Great Southern, where he mills all the feed for his 700 sow piggery.

An exclusive supplier of pigs to leading WA smallgoods manufacturer D’Orsogna Ltd., Mr Bradford must maximise his feed conversion ratio, hence being able to utilise Berkshire’s high digestible energy content of up to 13.9 MJ DE/kg (about 0.5 MJ DE/kg more than the average energy in other triticale varieties) is a big production plus.

To manage problems with frost, inherent in all triticale varieties, he planted Berkshire on high ground and to extend the flowering window beyond the September frost risk period grazed it from late June to early July.

Having trialled it now for four years, Mr Bradford has found he can sow late and graze without any yield penalty. After harvest straw is used for pig bedding or sold for export.

“I’ve achieved yields above three tonnes per hectare and while it hasn’t out performed barley here, it has done better than wheat,” Mr Bradford said He particularly values Berkshire’s agronomic traits and its flexible sowing date.

Berkshire triticale was bred through the Pork CRC to be a high yielding grain with a higher digestible energy content than contemporary varieties.

It yields well, especially on an energy basis and supports excellent growth performance in pigs. With financial backing from the pork industry, via the Pork CRC, the variety is now commercially available for planting in 2013.

Murdoch University Professor John Pluske, who leads a Pork CRC project to increase awareness of Berkshire triticale throughout the supply chain, said that because triticale was not widely grown in WA, it may not be an obvious crop for grain growers to consider in their rotations.

“Hence, we’ve been talking with grain growers, agronomists, grain buyers, feed

manufacturers and pork producers about Berkshire because we believe it has benefits for the pig industry and also for the grain industry,” Professor Pluske said.

Long-term NVT trials in eastern Australia indicate Berkshire is a leading triticale variety.

While there wasn’t NVT data for Berkshire in WA, independent trials in the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons, showed average yields across several sites compared well to established wheat varieties, indicating Berkshire could be important as a break crop.

“Berkshire’s ability to handle acidic and waterlogged soils gives grain growers an alternative option for these soils, but also because it has performed well across soil types it could be considered as a replacement for wheat in some years,” Professor Pluske said.

If interested in Berkshire triticale or would like more information about the project, please contact Professor John Pluske by email J.Pluske@murdoch.edu.au

TPP talks challenge Canadian pork subsidies The 15th round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks held in Auckland, New Zealand from Dec 3-12 was said to be a tough round for Canadian officials.

The 11 strong TPP partnership group includes Australia, NZ, the US, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, with new comers Canada and Mexico participating for the first time. Collectively TPP nations represent a market of more than 658 million people with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $20.5 trillion, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of global GDP. This is a substantially larger trading power than the 27 nation EU bloc.

Australian Pork Limited (APL) CEO Andrew Spencer said “Australian pork producers, along with our counterparts in NZ and the US opposed the entry of Canada to the TPP back in June, based on their continued heavy use of subsidies to their domestic pork industry.

“Canadian pork producers, by benefitting from substantial government subsidy programs, enjoy an unfair competitive advantage over hard-working Australian

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pork producers who operate in a subsidyfree environment. This continued action by the Canadian government is, in Australian pork producers’ eyes, diametrically opposed to the goals and long term objectives the TPP group is striving to achieve. It is on these grounds that Australian pork producers seriously question Canada’s genuine commitment to the goals of the TPP,” Mr Spencer said.

Collectively, Australian, US and NZ pork producers and their national representative bodies support their respective governments’ international efforts to liberalise trade and remove trade distorting barriers and subsidies. The TPP agreement is reflective of those efforts and is considered an ambitious, comprehensive agreement that will act as a blueprint for an eventual Asiawide trade agreement.

President of the US National Pork Producers Council, RC Hunt said that Canada’s failure to reform its considerable government support for their pork producers puts not only US but Australian and NZ hog farmers at a major competitive disadvantage; “In reality we cannot compete on a level playing field”.

NZ Pork CEO Owen Symmans echoed the collective sentiment of Australian and US pork producers around Canada’s inclusion in the TPP group.

“Canada’s domestic subsidies effectively function as export subsidies, displacing pork production in overseas markets such as NZ and Australia. This is damaging to domestic production in both countries.

“I am aware that Canada’s own Federal Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz has specifically refused to endorse the Ontario Risk Management Program (RMP), which is one of a number of Canadian subsidy programmes. Minister Ritz denounced the RMP as ‘completely countervailable’ in comments to the Canadian House of Commons. Surely this is clear evidence that Canada’s tolerance for domestic subsidies for its pork industry is hypocritical and contrary to its participation in a free trade agreement like the TPP,” Mr Symmans said.

Canadian officials faced tough questions over their country’s commitment to the principles of the TPP at the next round of TPP trade talks in respect to Canada’s continued pork subsidisation programs.

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Farm Manager Steve Hawkes with pigs in straw based shelter using Big Dutchman feeding system.

Innovative changes key to success at Bourke piggery

By CHRISTINE CLARKE

I

n central Victoria, farmers John and Gail Bourke of JW & GE Bourke Pty Ltd, own and operate a 480 sow piggery.

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PORK JOURNAL, Nov/Dec 2012

John was raised on his father’s farm which was mainly a dairy farm with some pigs and has since turned the property into a successful farrow to finish piggery with six full time staff.

John is passionate about supporting Australian farmers and is very active in industry groups.

He has a specialised and varied portfolio and as President of the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) Pig Group (serving on the executive committee of the VFF Pig Group for more than six years), he represents 80% of the farms in Victoria.

He is also President of the Victorian Pig Fair which will be held in Bendigo this April from 16 to 17, 2013. He is also an Australian Pork Limited Delegate.

John is one of the first graduates of a scheme designed to train Victorian piggery workers through the DPI and GTAFE, TAFE’s Certificate III of Agriculture, Pig Production.

Not only is John passionate about his own enterprise, he is an outspoken advocate for the Australian pig industry. He is the first to step forward whenever the industry may be under scrutiny and competently and proactively deals with any issues at hand.

His broad understanding of politics and his knowledge of pigs make him a great spokesman for the Australian farmer.

“The past years have had their fair share of challenges,” said Farm Manager Steve Hawkes, who has been working with John for more than 11 years.

“From the farrowing shed, I then branched out to all parts of the piggery,” Steve said. He has played an integral part in the growth and development of Bourke piggery.

Steve has recently implemented several innovative changes to the farm.

Spray-dried porcine plasma is a new addition to the Crepe feeds. ACE Livestock is responsible for Bourke’s nutrition work and recommended trialing spray-dried porcine plasma which is a product from w processed blood.

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v

Blood plasma is widely used in Europe and Steve reports substantial benefits since beginning to feed plasma.

Trial work with plasma has shown that in pigs coming out of the nursery, every additional 2kg per pig translates into an additional 7 to 9kg per pig at the end of the grow-finish period.

To put that another way, each additional 2kg per pig coming out of the nursery reduces the time for that pig in the growfinish facility by two days.

“The crepe feed intake is easily increased 20%. It has been proven at Bourke’s that it enhances growth rate and feed intake during the post weaning phase,” John said.

Changes have been made to sow management, vaccination programs, creep feeding, weaning time (and movement of weaned pigs), shelter climate and water quality.

Gut health has been improved through the addition of feed additives like organic acids in the feed and water.

Steve noted that herd fertility is critical to the success of any breeding pig enterprise. Artificial Insemination (AI) dominates the reproductive process on farm.

“If operated correctly, it should also guarantee that each mating is carried out using viable sperm, something which may not be guaranteed practically with delivered product,” said John.

Bourke’s has developed its own in-house program. Following this, the farrowing rate increased by 10% and born alive increased significantly.

In past seasons the farm would put extra sows on for summer numbers, however now that farm numbers remain steady as year round production improved and stabilised. w Top: One of 12 straw based shelters. After weaning, the pigs are rotated through the staw based shelters for two five week stints. Above: Farm Manager Steve Hawkes says the rotation is labour intensive but more efficient.

Left: John Bourke with weaned pigs in one of the shelters. The all in all out system makes for easier cleaning and feed management.

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v Conditions continue to improve with performance management and hygiene developments.

As pigs are weaned at the Bourke piggery, they are rotated throughout the shelters.

The weaned pigs stay in the nursery shelters complete with specially constructed heated boxes, for four weeks.

“They then rotate to other shelters for two five week stints. Moving the pigs this many times can mean an increased workload for staff, but it is efficient to keep the age groups together,” said John.

At 14 weeks, the pigs are taken for a final tour and walked to the conventional finisher sheds.

A path is created every Tuesday from straw bales to create a maze for the pigs to be walked to their new accommodation.

This ‘all in all out’ cycle allows for the shelters to be easily cleaned, and enables the staff to manage the feeding program.

The pigs may move, but the feed into each silo stays consistent. Steve uses the Big Dutchman system and finds the diskgrinder and feeding programs easy to use.

Bourke farm has taken the idea of being a friendly neighbour literally. The farm shares more than 300 tonnes of composted pig manure and straw. Johns ‘shit to milk’ statement, is not too far from the truth.

The neighbour runs a 500-cow dairy farm, and is spreading fertiliser produced from Bourke’s farm over his pastures to fertilise in summer and spring.

This superior manure has no odour.

The straw and manure from the farm is composted in large rows, which are turned every few months. Consistently rotating the compost allows the perfect fertiliser to be manufactured. They use no additives and no chemicals, just as nature intended.

Making fertiliser of the waste has added value to the business. The shelters are cleaned out every five weeks, which yields an estimated 400 to 500 tonnes of straw a year and probably the same amount of manure.

“Instead of having a lagoon of effluent from flushing pens with water, now we have straw beds that are cleared out and composted,” said John.

John Bourke’s success with his piggery is a result of his ability to introduce change and not be afraid to adapt new technology and ideas.

1&2: The straw and manure from the piggery is composted in large rows and turned every few months. This creates the perfect fertiliser. 3. Steve uses the Big Dutchman feeding system and finds the diskgrinder easy to use. 4. It is efficient to keep the age groups together. 5. Steve checks the feeding system.

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News Australian vets release pig welfare guidelines The Australian Pig Veterinarians (APV), a special interest group of the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) has developed a set of guidelines to assist industry, private veterinarians and government to appropriately treat sick or injured pigs.

“Vets play an important role in advising farmers on how to maintain the health and well-being of pigs, both during and in-between farm visits,” said Australian Pig Veterinarians spokesperson, Dr Trish Holyoake.

“The guidelines include a handy ‘triage-style’ format that farmers can resource if they are unsure of the appropriate treatment of a diseased animal,” she said.

“As with other industries, the pig industry is becoming more transparent to address concerns of the general public in relation to animal welfare.

“Welfare legislation is likely to change in response to these concerns so we see the guidelines evolving over time,” she said.

The key objectives of the guidelines are to: • set out the legal responsibilities of producers and stockpersons for pig welfare in all states • advise vets of their legal responsibilities when dealing with on-farm welfare issues • develop a standard set of guidelines for vets for the treatment and management of sick and injured pigs.

“The guidelines have four action categories depending on the level of injury or illness, including supervised hospitalisation and in-pen treatment with a heavy focus on the use of pain-relieving medicines to support pigs’ recovery.

“In some cases, it is appropriate to immediately humanely euthanase an animal that is in severe pain or is unlikely to recover. It is essential that farmers have systems for monitoring each pig’s recovery.”

Currently each state and territory is responsible for its own animal welfare legislation, including the care of sick and injured pigs.

Federal and state governments are currently working together to produce consistent welfare regulatory outcomes for livestock throughout Australia.

The guidelines were prepared by Australian Pig Veterinarians in consultation with Australian Pork Limited (APL), and have been distributed to pig veterinarians and stakeholders around the country.

APL has also developed a Care of the Compromised Pig manual to assist producers. This publication references and compliments the pig vet’s guidelines.

The guidelines can be viewed on the website at: http://www.ava.com.au/newsarticle/australian-vets-releasepig-welfare-guidelines

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News euroTier 2012 – world’s top event for animal production “With 2,445 exhibitors and around 160,000 visitors, including 38,000 international visitors, EuroTier 2012 has reached new record level,” announced Dr Reinhard Grandke, Chief Executive Officer of the organizer DLG (Deutsche LandwirtschaftsGesellschaft – German Agricultural Society), speaking to the press in Hanover at the close of EuroTier on November 16, 2012.

Eurotier combines with the BioEnergy Decentral exhibition, an initiative that boosts interest for farmers and the overall scale of the event.

“With this result EuroTier has impressively demonstrated its great pulling power for animal husbandry farmers and experts from all over the world and further consolidated its leading position as the world’s top event for professional animal husbandry,” he said.

“BioEnergy Decentral at EuroTier has become firmly established as the world forum for decentralized energy supply.

“The number of exhibitors has increased by 25% compared with 2010.

“Altogether 2,445 direct exhibitors and 41 additionally represented firms from a total of 51 countries presented their goods and services and their innovations.

“Around half of the exhibitors (1,151) came from outside Germany, representing a 40% increase over 2010.

“This underpins EuroTier’s unique position as the world’s largest exhibition in this field,” Dr Grandke concluded.

Given that although the German economy remains strong, much of Europe and the US are facing economic difficulty which makes the attendance and participation by exhibitors all the more remarkable – it is a fantastic event.

The Hanover Messe (Fair) exhibition site features some of the world’s most spectacular modern architecture and transport links, by road rail and the S Bahn, ensure easy access to the event.

“The solutions presented in the pig sector reflected the demands made of future housing conditions. The factors driving them are pressures to reduce costs and increase productivity, as well as alignment with increasing legal requirements and demands made by society,” a statement

by DLG pointed out.

Highly prized by exhibitors and European based companies in particular,

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are the Eurotier Gold and Silver medals.

Just five gold medals are awarded “for products with a new concept showing crucially modified functions and which can be used to allow a new process or essentially improve known processes.”

For management and feeding technology for pigs, optiSCAN, a mobile weighing system that uses 3D camera technology manufactured by Holscher + Leuschner GmbH & Co based in Emsburen in Germany, won one of the Gold medals.

“The unit is held over the pig for three seconds at a distance regulated by the

camera itself depending on the pig body.

With the 3D picture and certain coordinates it is possible to determine the weight of the fattening pig digitally.

“As a result of using the optiSCAN device the physically strenuous and time consuming weighing of grower pigs is no longer necessary,” the Eurotier innovation award citation states. “optiSCAN improves labour management and lowers stress levels for pigs as well as allowing for more precise weight related marketing with faster and more welfare friendly weighing operations.

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5 1. Craig Whitbread, NJ Phillips Market Manager for Europe, Africa and South America. 2. Dr Elizabeth Banholzer, Pfizer. 3. DLG President Carl-Albrecht Bartmer.

4. Dr Jules Taylor-Pickard, Alltech UK. 5. LtoR: Friedrich W. Rach, Dr Reinhard Grandke, Dr Hans-Joachim Gotz and Thorsten Herdan, speakers at the opening press conference. 6. ‘Pig Production 2030’ – Big Dutchman’s real-life housing concept for the future.

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News “There are savings in water and disinfectant use to be gained from reducing the need for cleaning operations necessary in conventional manually movement and weighing operations,” the citation said.

Out of 19 Eurotier Silver Medals awarded, Big Dutchman achieved four medals, three of them relating to pig production.

Two of the medals were awarded under the ‘Management and software for process engineering’ category.

Farm Power Manager is a software system for monitoring and steering the energy consumption of intensive livestock farms for tariff dependent cost analysis and consumption predictions.

Measured or nominal performance data of any electrical consumers/loads are provided by steering computers in the network to a central computer. This data is then analysed to find answers to various important questions,” the citation explains.

“BigFarm Net Health Monitoring is another software tool that serves to support health monitoring in group housing of pigs with demand feeding stations.

“The software documents the sequence of visits and feeding times of individual sows on both a single day and over longer periods.

“Assessment of the daily events is carried out with regard to the entire group.

“Strong deviations of individual animals indicate a health problem with a particular sow or return to oestrus.”

The Big Dutchman Sow Check oestrus detection system awarded in the ‘Management and feeding technology category for pigs’ is the “hardware system that operates in tandem with the award winning software monitoring systems”.

The Sow Check oestrus detection system makes it possible to identify sows on heat in group housing with an automated feed system.

The Big Dutchman stand for pig related systems at Eurotier drew a great crowd.

In the concept study of ‘Pig Production 2030” on an area of 500 m2, Big Dutchman presented a real-life housing concept for the future.

“The ‘pig house’ provided a practical basis for discussion and encouraged the viewers to get actively involved in the further development of livestock farming – even after the show,” reported the company on its website.

Though there were plenty of Australian faces at EuroTier there were just two exhibitors. w

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News v

Bioproton Pty Ltd, based in Sunnybank Queensland, is an Australian based biotechnology company with core business in developing, manufacturing and marketing feed enzyme supplements. Its main product is Naturzyme – a multiactivity feed enzyme formulated for a variety of intensively reared species including pigs.

The company is export oriented and the Queensland Government has recently recognised the international business success of Bioproton. The company was a finalist in the Agribusiness Award Category in Premier of The Queensland Export Awards in 2012.

The company will be attending VIV Asia March 13-15 2013, Hall 106 booth LO22 at the BITEC International Exhibition Center.

NJ Phillips, based in Somersby in NSW, is a manufacturer of precision instruments including vaccination equipment for all commercial livestock species was the other Australian exhibitor.

Craig Whitbread, Market Manager for Europe, Africa and South America, stated that the majority of his companies’ production sold into overseas markets and that they were continuing to expand sales including in the EU. Mike Andersen, Managing Director of Mundigo, was on the Weda (Dammann & Westerkamp Gmbh) stand with Heinz Knagge, owner and Project Manager of the company.

“Weda has developed its QXS liquid feeding system which can dispense smaller but very accurate volumes of feed,” he explained.

“This makes the system adaptable to smaller piggeries as well as larger operations,” “Representitives from Weda will be visiting Australia and New Zealand in January 2013 to help commission new installations in NZ and NSW,” Mike revealed.

Phillip Lambeth and Jonothon Doubleday were on the Selko stand with Mark Peebles from Lienerts in discussions with Marko Schuring, Director International Projects, Trouw Nutrition and Wilbert Litjens,Selko – Technical Manager for Optimins.

Last month BEC Feed Solutions announced that it had been appointed as Australian distributor for the Belgian based Nuscience Group which has developed and manufactured the Aromabiotic range of feed additives for pigs, poultry and cattle.

Ton Hovers, Chief Operations Officer

16 PORK JOURNAL, Nov/Dec 2012

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2 1. LtoR: Marko Schuring, Trouw Nutrition, Jonothon Doubleday, Auspac Ingredients, Wilbert Litjens, Selko and Philip Lambeth, Auspac Ingredients. 2. On the NEDAP stand were Ben Gussinco, Export Manager NEDAP, Kase van Littersum, AWI Canada and Floor van Dijle, Marketing NEDAP.

for BEC Feed Solutions, and David Isaacs Technical and Nutrition Specialist, were on the Nuscience stand with Katrien Deschepper the companies Business Unit Manager for the Aromabiotic range.

While the Australian pig industry is still dealing with the conversion to perceived ‘welfare friendly’ production systems like group sow housing, similar measures are further down the road in the EU with legislation in place, yet compliance remains a point of contention.

The UK pig industry, in particular pressured to comply with both EU and local legislation retailer pressure, faces imports, particularly from newer members of the EU where compliance with that legislation is far from universal – sound familiar?

So though welfare issues are still an issue across the EU, of greater significance was use or overuse of antibiotics and the move to renewable energy and energy saving strategies in production systems.

Though the pig industry in the EU and particularly in the highly developed markets of Northern Europe has integrated into renewable energy strategies using

advanced technology often supported by financial incentives, recently there are signs that the power generation sector, particularly in Germany, is starting to express some reservations about the growth in renewable energy, be it from animal waste derived methane, wind power or photo voltaic (PV).

The increase in available power developed from renewable sources over the last four years has cut into the margins of energy providers whose ability to charge peak rates during daylight hours has reduced returns considerably.

In fact the German magazine Photon commented on this phenomenon at the end of December 2012.

“In Germany, photovoltaics is pulling the price of power on the spot market in the afternoon down into the level of prices in the dead of night,” it reported.

This development can hardly have been missed by Australian energy providers where potential for both wind and PV power input as well as methane generation must potentially be greater than in Northern Europe – in other words anticipate resistance!

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News

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3. Mike Anderson (left), MD of Mundigo, on the WEDA stand with Heinz Knagge, owner of the company. On display on the Skiold stand was the new product range and the new logo. 5. The OptiSCAN, a mobile weighing system made by Holscher + Leuschner that uses 3D camera technology, won one of the Gold Medals at EuroTier.

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The reduction of antibiotic use and threats posed by antibiotic resistance are of great concern to both intensive livestock industries and legislators within the EU. As issues around energy, renewable sources of same and related on farm strategies were a focal point at Eurotier 2012 with a significant proportion of both exhibitors and visitors concentrating on the topic, many alternatives to antibiotics were to be found in the halls dedicated to nutrition and animal health.

On November 13, Pfizer held a press conference where a panel of industry and academic experts revealed the recent history of antibiotic use in key production areas like Denmark as veterinary proscribed use increased following the ban on AGPs. Obviously Pfizer has developed health care strategies that go beyond simple vaccination strategies like its Individual Pig Care Program.

Australian growers who attended the Chris Richards Partnership Seminar on the Gold Coast prior to PPPE in May 2012, would be familiar with this initiative which is proving effective in major pig production markets around the world including the EU.

Certainly Australia is not as far down the road in antibiotic use reduction strategies and requirements as the EU – and in particular the more advanced production centres like Denmark, Germany and Holland are, but it would be foolish of industry not to plan for pressures from either government and or retailers for alternatives to be considered.

EuroTier is an incredible event in both scale and efficiency and well worth the effort in travel and time to attend.

It is probably fair to state that if what you are looking for in both present and future aspects of current and future pig production aren’t at EuroTier then they are still in development!

Apart from meeting Aussies at EuroTier, Pork Journal had the chance to catch up with friends made during overseas trips including Dr Jules Taylor- Pickard, Alltech’s UK based pig industry expert who would be well known to many in the Australian pork industry.

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PORK JOURNAL, Nov/Dec 2012      17

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News Global pig nutrition experts envisage redefining pig nutrition at the Alltech China Pig Nutritional Meeting More than 270 key Chinese pig nutritionists and company leaders gathered in Guangzhou to attend the Alltech China Pig Nutritional Meeting in November.

The two-day event provided a unique opportunity for attendees to interact with pig experts from around the world in order to discuss the real requirements today and future swine nutrition of the world’s largest pig producing country.

“With its 175.4 million tons of feed production, China has become the number one feed producer in the world according to Alltech’s Global Feed Tonnage Report”, said Dr Mark Lyons, Alltech Vice President, corporate affairs.

“In the last few decades Chinese meat consumption has shown a steady increase and within that pork meat is one of the fastest growing meat segment representing 54% of the total 70kgs of meat consumption per capita per year,” he continued.

Chairman of the meeting Aidan

Connolly, said that Chinese swine production had increased by 22% in the last 10 years making China by far the largest pig producer in the world.

“There is however a huge gap between the Chinese and Western pig industries in terms of production costs and animal performance.”

Mr Connolly, Alltech Vice President and adjunct professor of marketing at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, added, “In particular, swine feed costs are 30% more for a Chinese producer and this falls short of the potential pigs per sow.”

Dr Karl Dawson, Alltech Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, explained that the way we look at today’s swine nutrition will dramatically change in the next decade. The science of Nutrigenomics has enabled scientists to examine 28,000 of the pigs genes in terms of how these genes are expressed in the

presence of different nutrients.

Researchers at Alltech’s Nutrigenomics Centre have successfully managed to identify groups of genes which are crucial for performance, meat quality and the resistance to different animal diseases.

He commented that, “Today, we can nutritional condition young pigs to generate specific responses against specific pig diseases.” He explained that nutrigenomics is a very powerful tool which allows scientists and nutritionists to make changes rapidly ensuring the sustainability of pig production.

Dr Roger Campbell, Chief Executive Officer of CRC for High Integrity Australian Pork, introduced the amino acid requirement for modern pig nutrition.

Modern pigs are capable of feed efficiency levels approaching those of poultry and this has improved considerably over the last decade. As Dr Campbell explained, in order to establish effective amino acids

Alltech anounces research programs with Chinese universities

Alltech has officially launched Alltech-Chinese University/Institute Research Alliances platform during a press conference held in Beijing. As part of a 2011 survey conducted by Alltech it was shown that China is now the largest feed market in the world. Alltech is putting unprecedented resources into China, including transferring one of its Senior Vice Presidents and the son of the founder, Dr Mark Lyons, to China in January 2012. Seen here are Dr Karl Dawson, Alltech Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer and Dr Mark Lyons, Alltech Vice President (8th and 9th from left) at the press conference announcing the five year research program with top chinese universities.

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News requirements, producers are either advised to conduct their own trials every two years to avail of the tables provided by the genetics supplier and NRC publications.

NIR calibrations have been developed which accurately can identify reactive lysine, reverted lysine and other amino acids.

Prof Jim Pettigrew, professor of University of Illinois, Department of Animal Sciences presented on the global move away from sub therapeutic use of antibiotics as today there is choice of available alternatives which focus on compounds that are anti-inflammatory and are maintaining intestinal health.

Prof Pettigrew introduced a study from the University of Illinois which examined Alltech’s Bio-Mos and Actigen products in term of benefits for growth and performance of sows and piglets as well as the benefits for resistance to viral diseases.

The study showed that Bio-Mos can be beneficial in the presence of PRRS, where it improves feed efficiency, reduces inflammation, increases white blood cell counts which may protect against secondary infections, and changes gene expression.

Feeding Bio-Mos to sows reduces pre-weaning mortality, increases pre-weaning growth rate, reduces the weanto-estrus interval, and increases post-weaning growth rate.

Dr Wallace Henry, SM Pigs Limited introduced Western Europe pig production trends by showing the merits of the various energy and protein dietary descriptions. Every producer needs to understand the economics of choice and profitability needs to be the primarily goal, not just pig productivity. Wallace advised the audience that Chinese producers must have accurate nutrient specifications for their own feed ingredients.

Dr Gretchen Hill, professor of Michigan State University in the Animal Science Department demonstrated the importance of re-defining the need of minerals for today’s pig production.

As a member of the recent NRC review she gave examples of the latest thinking on Phosphorous, Copper, Zinc and other minerals. Chinese pig producers need to be concerned about the source of Phytase when considering how to formulate, and must understand that all chelated minerals are not the same and the data of one cannot be used to support the use of a different product.

Although minerals are still considered to be cheap, there may be unintended consequences of overuse, and producers should consider replacing inorganic sources with organically complexed ones.

Dr Daiwen Chen, Vice President, Si Chuan Agriculture University, explained that Chinese nutritional research is now focusing on identifying the real needs of Chinese pigs in Chinese conditions.

Dr Chen introduced new data on Alltech’s Actigen product in sows which showed improvements in piglets when using Actigen in sow diets and the weaning pig. By using Actigen pigs were better in terms of weight gain, growth rate, with more immunoglobulins and improved immunity in the animal.

Dr Walter Tibbetts, Cape Fear Consulting covered the topic of feeding weaned pigs in large systems for lifetime performance. Tibbetts explained that highly digestible feed ingredients if properly formulated can result in increased intakes with increased post-weaning daily gains in healthy pigs. Some functional protein sources offer additional benefits beyond the contribution of the amino acids.

Studies conducted with large US integrated operations have shown that NuPro can improve metabolism, increase cell turnover rate and promote immune development. The nursery phase may represent only a short stage of the pig’s life, however, it is one of most critical periods with regard to cost, meeting the animal’s continually changing needs, and performance in the latter stages of production.

Dr Jian Peng, Professor of Institute of Huazhong Agriculture University, Department of Animal Science and Technology indicated that fiber can be a vital source of health and productivity in sows. Sow nutrition is as important from an on-farm profitability point of view as other ages, and optimising sow nutrition impacts the performance and health of weaned pigs.

In his closing remarks, Dr Mark Lyons said, “70% of the Chinese population will live in cities by 2030 and China will represent the world’s largest middle class. It has never been a better time to be in China. Chinese consumers are more and more conscious about better quality, safer and traceable food and Alltech’s cutting edge technologies such as nutrigenomics are fully supporting these requirements.”

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PORK JOURNAL, Nov/Dec 2012 19

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News Ballarat Pig Industry Information Night During October Selko, AusPac Ingredients and Reid Stockfeeds sponsored a Victorian Farmers Federation Pig Industry Information Night.

The night opened with Tony Edwards from ACE Livestock Consulting speaking on the topic of ‘Keeping your focus kicking against the wind going into 2013’.

Tony covered the economics behind high grain prices and production “Consider the cost to your production when looking at grain quality and additives in your ration,” he said.

Selko’s Maarten van der Heijden presented ‘European regulations and market updates from the EU’, showing facts and figures from Europe in relation to production, costs and where the market seems to be going in Europe.

“They are also struggling with litigation, restrictions and feed costs.” he said.

When it came to feed costs, Marcus Dingle, lead grain buyer for Reid Stockfeeds, provided the audience with a ‘World Grain Production Calendar’ and discussed the various seasons and influences on the world grain market.

There was an audience discussion on where our biggest threats are as consumers.

The export market and futures markets are a concern for big and small producers equally.

Pat Mitchell, APL Manager, Production Stewardship, gave an APL Industry Update and John Bourke, President of the VFF closed with recent industry developments. This was followed by and an open discussion on market pressures in the industry.

Top: Dr Pat Mitchell, from Australian Pork Limited with Chris Cameron (right) from ACE Livestock Consulting.

Above: Marcus Dingle (left) from Reid Stockfeeds with Philip Lambeth, Auspac Ingredients.

Left: Max Vallance, Vallance Piggery, talking to John Bourke, President of the Victorian Farmers Federation Pig Group.

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News Red tape threatening animal health?

Australia’s capacity for animal health research and development (R&D) is facing a very real and serious threat, and not from where you might think, according to Dr Peter Holdsworth, Chief Executive Officer of the Animal Health Alliance (the Alliance).

“Not that long ago Australia boasted one of the best regulatory bodies for animal health products in the world – the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA). Its smooth operation encouraged innovation and scientific progress while protecting the health and well-being of animals and people,” Dr Holdsworth said.

“Today however, the results of a major global survey show that in Australia, 89% of respondents see the regulatory environment as a significant obstacle to successful innovation, compared to 53-86% elsewhere in the world”.

According to Dr Holdsworth the impact on Australia’s R&D capacity could be significant and long lasting.

“We’re already starting to see the effect this is having. Across animal health companies, domestic expenditure on R&D has decreased by around one fifth from between 9 and 10% of total turnover in 2006 to 7.7% in 2011,” said Dr Holdsworth.

“Australia has a proud history of being at the forefront of scientific discovery in animal health. This requires skilled researchers, scientists and academics, and solid financial investment.

“Currently the animal health industry directly and indirectly supports thousands of science based jobs in Australia, with almost half of all animal health companies contracting out more than 75% of their R&D to universities and contract research organisations.

“The slow and unpredictable nature of the APVMA is also having an impact on university driven research.”

Professor Frank Dunshea, the Head of Melbourne University’s Agriculture and Food Systems Department, says he has experienced the regulatory inefficiencies first hand.

“One of my PhD students had to gain approval from the APVMA to undertake what was a relatively straightforward experiment as part of his thesis, which focussed on pig production.

“We had difficulty with frequent changes to the staff managing the application and lack of clear direction in correspondence form the APVMA. “After two years of waiting for consent, we didn’t want to waste any more time and withdrew the application. As a result, he had to

change the focus of his project,” Prof Dunshea said.

“Australia was the only country where the regulator received a negative rating for its impact on the industry’s ability to innovate.

“When you consider that in just five years, the average time to develop and register a new livestock animal product has jumped by 70% and the cost by 36%, this result isn’t surprising,” Dr Holdsworth said.

“Australia represents just 4% of the global animal health market. If we are to remain competitive globally, it is critical that we provide an attractive location for R&D investment and bringing new products to market. This requires a responsive and efficient regulatory environment.”

The Federal Government is currently undertaking a series of reviews of the APVMA, focussing on its structure and funding. Outcomes of these reviews are expected in the first half of 2013, and are likely to continue over the next few years.

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Calls for end to Canadian imports Australian pork producers are calling for an end to subsidised Canadian pork imports.

“We’ve already seen almost 20,000 tonnes of subsidised Canadian pork hit our supermarket shelves this year,” VFF Pig Group President John Bourke said.

“Unlike Canadian farmers we don’t get any subsidies, yet we’re expected to accept the open entry of these imports.”

In 2011 Canadian pork producers received $113 million in support payments, according to the OECD. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that Canadian pork is Australia’s third highest pork import, behind the US and Denmark.

The pork industry is worth $2 billion a year to the Australian economy, employing directly and indirectly more than 25,000 people.

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News Five things to take away from the Alltech Pig solutions seminar How can the pig industry stay profitable in the face of high feed costs, increased government regulations and consumer demands intensifying?

This was the focus of Alltech’s 10th Pig Solutions Seminar, held in Hannover, Germany on the November 12.

First up was Professor Denise Kelly, of Rowett Research Institute, with a fascinating presentation on the role of gut microbiota in gut health.

The most startling revelation came from her current research: piglets from outdoor reared sows were colonised by good bacteria, mostly lactobacilli. In comparison to these were pigs reared in isolators, including those fed antibiotics.

These were overwhelmingly colonised by different bacteria, including proteobacteria such as E-coli, which she referred to as pathobionts. These had a huge, visible effect on gene regulation in the gut.

“What was interesting is that most of the gene changes were associated with the immune response. This data indicated that the conditions animals were raised in was having a consistent and large effect on gene expression patterns,” she explained.

“Animals raised indoors and in isolators with antibiotics, showed very significant up-regulation of genes, governing the inflammatory response, and animals in the outdoor group had significant down-regulation of these genes.”

Inflammation is energy costly, therefore the outdoor pigs had a lower energy cost associated with their immune responses which can contribute towards improved productivity.

The second take away message was from Dr Hans Stein of teh University of Illinois. His presentation focussed on increasing efficiency, specifically in relation to phosphorus.

His method for calculating the standardised total tract digestibility of phosphorus involved subtracting the basal endogenous losses of P from apparent total tract digestibility. This is important for mixed diets as it allows a more accurate calculation of the amount of P available in the diet. It means that it is possible to only feed the required amount of P thus reducing excretion and benefitting the environment.

A knock on effect of this is the accurate determination of how much phytase to add to diets, so that we are not over or under

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adding, increasing efficiency and control over costs.

The third speaker, Nigel Penligton of BPEX Division in the United Kingdom discussed his Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) tool that allows producers to measure the chosen environmental impacts of pig production and to model predicted change.

He explained that sustainable livestock production requires precision feeding of nutritionally balanced ingredients to deliver the best product yield at an affordable price. Nutritionists must help communicate the solutions they are delivering.

Least cost may not be least impact, where is it most efficient to produce, and balancing animal welfare and environmental protection are questions LCA helps us understand. The English pig industry has developed a roadmap, setting out how it intends to improve its environmental credentials while becoming more sustainable.

The fourth presentation came from Professor Michael Brumm of Brumm Swine Consultancy and the University of Minnesota. His gave an overview of the steps needed to produce the pig of the future, covering noticeable trends in pork production that can’t be avoided.

Some of these include the capabilities of genetic suppliers to link genetic populations in different countries and hemispheres for genetic improvement decision, increasing genetic progress.

In production units, this means that

nutritional and housing needs will evolve at ever increasing rates as the expected animal response in terms of growth and productivity improves. In production facilities, we must plan for the continued increase in slaughter weights.

In North America and Europe, there is an increased demand by consumers for ‘traceability’ in their food supply. A new metric for pork production will be total water use per unit of production. There are many changes coming and the pig industry must adapt.

The fifth and final message from the Pig Solutions Seminar came from Dr Kate Jacques, from Alltech, in her presentation on the new frontiers in programmed nutrition. Her talk focussed on the advent of DNA microarray methods in food animal research and how it is changing the future for animal nutrition.

“The ability to chart gene expression affords a new way to measure response to dietary change and sheds new light on the complex nature of digestion and metabolism,” she said.

“Perhaps even more importantly, following gene expression broadens the way we think of nutrients and nutrient requirements.

Now, in addition to their chemical roles as building blocks, energy sources or co-factors, we now recognise that often nutrients function as gene ‘switches’ with the ability to modulate gene expression.”

PRRs found in switzerland Swiss veterinary authorities have culled all pigs on a farm in Eastern Switzerland as a Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) infection had spread to other pigs.

The spread of the disease was found after intensified checks as last week, the farm was identified as PRRS-positive.

Blood checks had tested positive for PRRS virus, the Swiss Federal Veterinary Office (BVET) confirmed at the end of November.

At that time, in total three farms were found positive – one breeding farm and two piglet producing farms, in the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden. These three farms housed in total 5,099 pigs – seven of them tested positive.

Immediately, 72 sows were culled to contain the outbreak. Additional checks on these farms appeared not to have revealed any further infection.

The infections were reported to have come through semen that was imported from Germany – the initially culled animals were sows that had received infected semen. In total 27 farms have now been blocked, as they all received the German semen, and are currently being checked. In total, blood samples need to be taken of approximately 4,000 sows.

As a result of the findings, the BVET announced that the imports of pig semen, egg cells and embryos is banned until the end of January.

Switzerland had not previously had any known cases of PRRS infection.

PJNov/Dec2012:PJJanFeb09 4/01/13 3:17 PM Page 23

PRODUCT News Nuscience appoints BeC Feed solutions as distributor for Australia and New Zealand Nuscience and BEC Feed Solutions will work closely together to introduce and sell the Aromabiotic product range in the pig, poultry and cattle market.

The Functional Feed Ingredients (FFI) unit of Nuscience Group is focusing on the international sales and marketing of its innovative products worldwide.

As the inventor of the use of Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFA) in animal feed, Nuscience is continuously expanding its knowledge and market coverage.

“We are very happy that BEC Feed Solutions is our trusted partner in the Australian market,” says Patrick Keereman, CEO Nuscience Group.

BEC Feed Solutions is located in Brisbane. Its mission is to become the leader in the supply of nutritional advice, premixes, feed ingredients and feed commodities to the Australian and international stock feed industry, according to Ton Hovers, COO of BEC. “The products Aromabiotic Pigs, Poultry and Cattle fit perfectly in our portfolio,” said Mr Hovers.

“We are confident that with the support and expertise of the Nuscience team we can grow our mutual business.”

Speaking on the Nuscience stand at EuroTier 2012 Katrien Deschepper, Business Unit Manager for the Aromabiotic product range said:

“Aromabiotic for pigs is based on a carefully balanced combination of medium chain fatty acids (MCFA).

“The product was invented by Nuscience in the late 1990s based on extensive research and after patenting has now been available to livestock industries for more than 10 years.

“The ban on AGPs in the EU from

2006 gave a big boost to sales of Aromabiotic which was developed as an antimicrobial effective against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria.

“The Aromabiotic range for pigs, cattle and poultry is species specific and for pigs is effective against e coli,” she explained.

“We believe that the product improves intestinal morphology and increases the villi/crypt ratio as well as reducing pathogen virulence.

“Aromabiotic has not only a local effect in the intestine but delivers benefits to the whole animal delivering an improved technical performance,” she concluded.

On the Nuscience stand at EuroTier 2012 were (LtoR) Katrien Deschepper, Ton Hovers, COO BEC Feed Solutions and David Isaacs, Technical and Nutrition Specialist.

PORK JOURNAL, Nov/Dec 2012 23

PJNov/Dec2012:PJJanFeb09 4/01/13 3:17 PM Page 24

News New specialist Director coup for Australian Pork Limited Mr Geoff Starr has been appointed as a Specialist Director with Australian Pork Limited (APL) for an initial three year term following the retirement of Professor Robert van Barneveld after eight years.

Mr Starr has an impressive pedigree with a background in marketing and the food industry and brings a wealth of knowledge to APL. Most recently Mr Starr was Chief Executive of George Weston Foods. He is also a past Chairman and Board member of the Australian Food and Grocery Council and has broad experience with building

consumer markets in Australia, Asia and Europe through senior positions held with Mars Inc and Unilever Australia.

Specialist Director, Mr Enzo Allara AM, who has been on the APL Board for eight years, serving as Chair for the majority of this period, was reappointed for a further three year term. Mr Allara has been involved in the food and grocery industry both in Australia and internationally for more than 40 years.

The Chair of the APL Board took the opportunity at the recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Melbourne, to

thank Professor van Barneveld for the enormous contribution he has made to the industry, during the past eight years.

Congratulations were also extended to Elected Director Mr John Coward who was re-elected unopposed at the AGM for a further three year term. Mr Coward has more than 40 years of experience in the pork industry, including 10 years as Managing Director of Swickers and as Chairman of the Burnett Pork Alliance.

Currently, Mr Coward works as a pork industry consultant and is President of Pork Queensland Inc.

Mycotoxins and salmonella 2013 The organisers of Mycotoxins2011 have responded to positive feedback after that event and created Mycotoxins&Salmonella 2013 which will be held at the Imperial Queens Park Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday March 12, 2013 (the day before VIV Asia).

This conference features technical papers on two of the key issues facing animal feed producers and livestock farmers in Asia today – mycotoxins and salmonella – and brings to Bangkok internationally renowned experts from around the world.

The Mycotoxins half of the conference looks at the current Asia Pacific situation, Fusaria, toxin control, influence on the

inflammatory response and the mycotoxin control whereas the Salmonella half of the event looks at EU and USA regulations, control in feed, European experiences, biosecurity and vaccination and the two halves are linked by a presentation on testing feed for mycotoxins and salmonella.

Mycotoxins&Salmonella2013 is a one day independent technical conference on the subjects of its title that is targeted at livestock directors and farmers, feed mill managers, veterinarians, nutritionists and anyone involved in the production of safe animal feed All of Mycotoxins&Salmonella2013 speakers are experts in their own field and

have a wealth of experience to share with delegates.

This is a must attend conference for anyone involved in livestock farming and animal feed production.

Mycotoxins&Salmonella2013 will be a unique Asian networking opportunity for anyone involved in mycotoxin and salmonella control and a great way to start your VIV Asia week.

The conference fee is just £UK100 and this includes lunch and a set of the papers.

For further information see Conferences Section on www.positiveaction.co.uk and to book your place(s) please contact palmpositive@yahoo.com.

APVMA gets its cost recovery program approved Improvements to the regulation of agricultural and veterinary (AgVet) chemicals will better protect human, animal and environmental health and modernise the system for industry, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, said recently.

The Government’s Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Legislation Amendment Bill 2012, introduced into the House of Representatives by Parliamentary Secretary Sid Sidebottom just before the Christmas recess, will modernise the APVMA’s functions and make the chemical assessment process more transparent and easier to understand, he claimed.

24

PORK JOURNAL, Nov/Dec 2012

“Reforms to existing AgVet Chemical legislation will ensure our regulatory system is more predictable, effective and responsive,” Minister Ludwig said.

“Pesticide use is part and parcel of farming. Improving the way we regulate and assess those chemicals means they can be used in a safer and more effective way.”

Minister Ludwig said decisions on chemicals will be made more transparent and chemical registrations will be checked regularly.

For the first time, the Bill will introduce mandatory re-registration for agricultural chemicals such as pesticides and veterinary medicines registered in Australia.

“Our reforms are about modernising the system for industry and making sure farmers, the community and other land holders have the best possible AgVet chemicals available to them,” he said.

“At the same time, reforms will provide greater certainty to the community that pesticides and veterinary medicines used in Australia are safe.”

Minister Ludwig said the reforms will encourage the development of more modern and safer chemicals.

The government is providing approximately $8.8 million over four years to the APVMA to support implementation of the reforms.

PJNov/Dec2012:PJJanFeb09 4/01/13 3:17 PM Page 25

News David Lock, Craig Mostyn Group, wins NAB 2012 Agribusiness Leader of the Year across Australia from state-of-the-art processing facilities in Western Australia and Tasmania.

He has held the position since 2004, spending the first five years focussed on exiting nonperforming businesses and restructuring 18 business units down to three - Linley Valley Pork, Recycling and Craig Mostyn Foods.

David Thorn (left) representing NAB Agribusiness, with David Lock of Criag Mostyn Group at the NAB Agribusiness Awards.

Netherlands exports pig feet to China The Chinese authorities have formally allowed as from November 1 the import of pig trotters from the Netherlands.

In June last year, China had already allowed a limited number of pork products to be shipped from the Netherlands to China. At that time, trotters had not been included. Demand for pig trotters is high in China, with the Chinese New Year coming up in the beginning of 2013.

The allowance of exporting pig trotters marks the end of a multi-year project by the Dutch ministry of Economy, Agriculture and Innovation, as well as several Dutch lobby groups and agricultural organisations.

Craig Mostyn Group is the largest pork producer in Western Australia while Craig Mostyn Foods imports and exports a range of seafood products and operates, among other things, a lobster processing and live export facility in Tasmania.

Animal waste material from the Linley Valley Pork operation and other red meat and poultry abattoirs and boning rooms throughout Western Australia is processed by the Talloman rendering plant each year, then dried, stabilised and 100% recycled for feed, energy and Oleochemicals.

In 2004, the meat and livestock division of the business processed 1000 pigs per week, owned no farms and had a major competitor which processed 9000 pigs per week. David negotiated with the competitor and acquired its livestock, then bought the competitor’s fresh meat business and a number of major farming operations.

As result, CMG’s market share climbed from 10% to 95% enabling the business to grow its supermarket sales and export 30% of its production to become the major supplier of Australian pork into Singapore.

The division operates five breeder farms including Australia’s largest free range farm.

The Group is the first in Australia to obtain ‘Paws’ certification from the RSPCA and introduce robotic equipment in the abattoir.

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PORK JOURNAL, Nov/Dec 2012 25

PJNov/Dec2012:PJJanFeb09 4/01/13 3:17 PM Page 26

News Group planning for group housing Put 160 focussed pork producers, advisors, equipment manufacturers and researchers together for a total of three days to discuss improving sow welfare with group housing systems and you’ll generate varied views, some challenges and maybe some solutions.

Such was the case in Toowoomba and Melbourne in mid-October when a $100,000 initiative of the Board of the CRC for High Integrity Australian Pork (Pork CRC), to investigate what’s happening commercially and in science and research, culminated in workshopping the whys and wherefores of what works and, indeed, what doesn’t.

The Group Housing Solutions Workshops align with Pork CRC Program 1, ‘Confinement Free Sow and Piglet management’, which addresses the significant industry decision to voluntarily phase-out sow gestation stalls by 2017 and some retailer requests to be stall-free even earlier.

According to Pork CRC CEO, Dr Roger Campbell, key messages to emerge included: • Group housing works for sows weaned into mating pens for up to five days after mating, or those weaned into groups.

Pork Journal

• There is no one way of successfully housing gestating sows in groups.

• Australian producers are achieving good reproductive performance with electronic feeding systems with large dynamic groups and in smaller static groups with floor feeding, or trough feeding in pens fitted with full body stalls. The feeders differ, as does the design of the sheds and how they are managed.

• With electronic sow feeders, training older sows is a challenge, but once trained they have good memories.

• Consider everything when designing a group housing system – the design is critical to success and information is available.

• Most producers suffered a decline in reproduction during transition from stalls to group housing, so it’s important to plan how sows will be housed and fed during the transition. It was clear that if not fed appropriately, sows will not perform.

• Space and how it’s used is critical for success, although the floor space varied considerably across units discussed at the workshops.

• Space recommendations will vary with C< (@F "@ C?2=

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Send this completed form to: Pork Journal, 7 Kerns Rd, Kincumber NSW 2251. Email: rembery@iinet.net.au Please send me the next six issues of PORK JOURNAL Enclosed is my cheque for: A$66.00 (inc GST) for Australia or A$99.00 for overseas subscriptions Cheques are to be made payable to Primary Media in Australian $

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group size.

• Good stockmanship is critical.

• Hospital pens are critical.

Workshop presentations are now available on the Pork CRC’s website www. porkcrc.com.au/html/sow_housing_options Australian pork producer presenters Ian Hill (Bailey Creek Pork) and Laurie Brosnan (Bettafield Piggery), both from Queensland, Neil Ferguson (Westpork) from WA, Ian Bayley (Blackwood Piggery), Ian Connaughton and Tony Dipietro (Don KRC – Girgarre), from Victoria, showed where they were now and how they transitioned.

International presenters Dr Bruce Welch, New Zealand and Drs Niels-Peder Nielsen and Lisbeth Ulrich Hansen, Denmark, also made valuable contributions, highlighting how the transition to group housing was happening in their respective countries.

Dr Campbell believed that further information was still required on mixing sows, the value of higher fibre diets and how to use the fact that sows adapt rather quickly to mixing and groups, based on behaviour and other indicators of welfare and stress.

“What really counts is how space is used and how animals are managed,” he said.

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Go to porkjournal. realviewtechnologies.com

to read the latest digital version of Pork Journal Magazine

PJNov/Dec2012:PJJanFeb09 4/01/13 3:17 PM Page 27

PJNov/Dec2012:PJJanFeb09 4/01/13 3:17 PM Page 28

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1. Data on file.

2. Eileen L. Thacker, DVM, PhD; Brad J. Thacker, DVM, PhD; Tamara B. Boettcher, DVM; H. Jayappa, MVSc, PhD. Comparison of antibody production, lymphocyte stimulation, and protection induced by four commercial Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae bacterins. Swine Health and Production. 1998: 6(3): 107-112.

3. Davis RG et al. Onset and Duration of Immunity of a single dose of M+PAC. Proc. Leman Swine Conference 2003.

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