ON-FARM biogas en- ergy simply makes sense for conventional pork production. Pig manure gives a lot more biogas energy than dairy or beef feedlot ma- nure and conventional piggeries have a direct need for on-site heat and power and can use bio- gas energy to essentially eliminate energy bills. Biogas is particularly attractive because of the simple covered lagoon technology options avail- able to producers and this technology is only mod- estly different from the common practice of treat- ing flush manure in on- site uncovered lagoons. Essentially, the lagoon is the same, just with a plastic cover pulled over the top and in-trenched around the rim and some basic plastic pipework underneath to extract gas and sludge. Currently about 8 per- cent of Australia’s na- tional pork production is harvesting biogas, with covered lagoons being the most popular. An additional 2 percent or so is under construction and an additional 10 per- cent is in various stages of planning and develop- ment. Environmental sense Harvesting biogas from pig manure also makes environmental sense be- cause it can reduce on- farm emissions by as much as 60-80 percent, advancing the Australian pork industry toward its on-farm emissions target of less than 1kgCo2-eq per kg pork produced and toward becoming the low- est global warming con- tributor for pork produc- tion worldwide. To date, one Australian producer has benefited from the sale of carbon credits produced by burn- ing biogas in a flare and in biogas-fired generators. There is another surren- der date early next year when further piggery carbon credits might be sold onto liable entities that may want to buy the carbon credits. In the future, when car- bon prices on the open market have stabilised at a reasonable level, other producers may reap fur- ther benefits from the sale of carbon credits. Biogas energy alone can pay for many projects and the sale of carbon credits LATE last month saw the first in a number of industry consulta- tion meetings organ- ised across Australia in relation to the de- velopment of the Aus- tralian Pork Limited 2015–2020 Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan consultation is also teaming up this year with the APL/Pork CRC Roadshows. These report back to producers the latest out- comes from both Pork CRC and APL research projects. It is important to keep industry appraised of how their research lev- ies are actively working for them and also where there are opportunities for technology transfer and adoption to work out on-farm. It was really great to see a good roll-up of 31 producers and indus- try stakeholders to the South Australian (Rose- worthy) meeting. I thought this month’s article was a great op- portunity to share some of the discussions that occurred throughout the meeting. Not surprisingly peo- ple indicated that farm practices have changed dramatically in the past four years; nursery to finish shelter based ac- commodation has dou- bled in cost (bedding and shelters) and there is far more local coun- cil impost on farms, especially with the en- croachment of urban Australia out into rural environs. Production costs have been significantly im- pacted with the price hike in water and elec- tricity. For South Australia, water costs have almost quadrupled. The difficulty around labour shortages con- tinues to plague the in- dustry, with the price per hour for labour and reduced working hours adding to ongoing la- bour shortages. Interestingly enough the meeting identified the single thing in SA that has probably changed the most has been the move by producers to a more formal, longer term sup- ply agreement with cus- tomers. This coupled with the increased emphasis on welfare and the require- ment to have quality assurance to underpin supply to major retailers has certainly changed the way producers do business. The boom and bust cycles of years past, in respect to pork supply and grain prices, was seen as something the industry could easily continue to live with- out. Not surprising was also the discussion around animal welfare and the move by indus- try to loose housing and how this has positioned our Australian pork producers on the world stage in relation to our competitors. Has this investment added value that will further down the track help attract significant and worthwhile invest- ment in the industry longer term? This is certainly a criti- cal question given the average age of producers. All these issues col- lected from meet- ings such as this are extremely important in contributing to the building of a 2015– 2020 Strategic Plan that provides insight into where the industry needs to be moving in the next five years. The current plan has provided a period of solid returns. Now it’s time to debate how to build on the more stable platform the indus- try has achieved. I urge everyone to find the time to participate in these meetings in your individual states. My thanks go to those SA pig producers who turned up in Rosewor- thy and engaged in an important conversation. I hope that our other meetings in other states see the same level of involvement and par- ticipation. Vol 17. No. 9 September 2013 Australian Pork Newspaper PO Box 387 Cleveland 4163 Phone (07) 3286 1833 Fax (07) 3821 2637 Email [email protected]07 4697 3344 SHED CONSTRUCTION • FULL TURN-KEY SERVICE • Ventilation designs • Installation of equipment • Council applications • Betco kit buildings • Feeding equipment Stockyard Industries 54 King Street, Cliſton QLD 4361 www.stockyardindustries.com www.porknews.com.au Point of View by ANDREW SPENCER CEO Strategic planning consultation meetings continue in earnest ☛ continued P6 • New South Wales – Young Tuesday, Sep 10 Young Golf Club, William St 3pm-6pm, followed by dinner RSVP to NSW Farmers Members Services on 1300 794 000 or goughj@ nswfarmers.org.au • Victoria – Shepparton Thursday, Sep 19 Aussie Hotel, 73 Fryers St 3pm-6pm, followed by dinner RSVP to Ann-Maree Hastings on 02 6270 8806 or annmaree. hastings@australian pork.com.au • Queensland – Toowoomba Wednesday, Oct 2 The Burke and Wills Motel, 554 Ruthven St 3pm-6pm, followed by dinner RSVP to Ann-Maree Hastings on 02 6270 8806 or annmaree. hastings@australian pork.com.au • Western Australia – Perth (in association with WAPPA) Friday, Oct 18 South of Perth Yacht Club, Coffee Point, Duncraig Rd, Applecross, WAPPA meeting commences 10.30am APL/Pork CRC Roadshow and Consultation from 2pm-5pm Annual Industry Dinner will follow at Rowing WA Club Headquarters from 6.30pm RSVP to Russell Cox on 08 9479 7315, 0428 293 095 or russell@ wappa.com.au At an Australian piggery – a storage tank (left) col- lects hot water produced by an 80kW biogas fired generator inside the green container. Biogas simply makes sense by DR STEPHAN TAIT Pork CRC Research Fellow Bioenergy Support Program It , s a gas Hot water is then circulated through heat pads in the farrowing sheds.
Transcript
ON-FARM biogas en-ergy simply makes sense for conventional pork production.
Pig manure gives a lot more biogas energy than dairy or beef feedlot ma-nure and conventional piggeries have a direct need for on-site heat and power and can use bio-gas energy to essentially eliminate energy bills.
Biogas is particularly attractive because of the simple covered lagoon technology options avail-able to producers and this technology is only mod-estly different from the common practice of treat-ing flush manure in on-site uncovered lagoons.
Essentially, the lagoon
is the same, just with a plastic cover pulled over the top and in-trenched around the rim and some basic plastic pipework underneath to extract gas and sludge.
Currently about 8 per-cent of Australia’s na-
tional pork production is harvesting biogas, with covered lagoons being the most popular.
An additional 2 percent or so is under construction and an additional 10 per-cent is in various stages of planning and develop-ment. Environmental sense
Harvesting biogas from pig manure also makes environmental sense be-cause it can reduce on-farm emissions by as much as 60-80 percent, advancing the Australian pork industry toward its on-farm emissions target of less than 1kgCo2-eq per kg pork produced and toward becoming the low-est global warming con-tributor for pork produc-tion worldwide.
To date, one Australian producer has benefited from the sale of carbon credits produced by burn-ing biogas in a flare and in biogas-fired generators.
There is another surren-der date early next year when further piggery carbon credits might be sold onto liable entities that may want to buy the carbon credits.
In the future, when car-bon prices on the open market have stabilised at a reasonable level, other producers may reap fur-ther benefits from the sale of carbon credits.
Biogas energy alone can pay for many projects and the sale of carbon credits
LATE last month saw the first in a number of industry consulta-tion meetings organ-ised across Australia in relation to the de-velopment of the Aus-tralian Pork Limited 2015–2020 Strategic Plan.
The Strategic Plan consultation is also teaming up this year with the APL/Pork CRC Roadshows.
These report back to producers the latest out-comes from both Pork CRC and APL research projects.
It is important to keep industry appraised of how their research lev-ies are actively working for them and also where there are opportunities for technology transfer and adoption to work out on-farm.
It was really great to see a good roll-up of 31 producers and indus-try stakeholders to the South Australian (Rose-worthy) meeting.
I thought this month’s article was a great op-portunity to share some of the discussions that occurred throughout the meeting.
Not surprisingly peo-ple indicated that farm practices have changed dramatically in the past four years; nursery to finish shelter based ac-commodation has dou-bled in cost (bedding and shelters) and there is far more local coun-cil impost on farms, especially with the en-croachment of urban Australia out into rural environs.
Production costs have been significantly im-pacted with the price hike in water and elec-tricity.
For South Australia,
water costs have almost quadrupled.
The difficulty around labour shortages con-tinues to plague the in-dustry, with the price per hour for labour and reduced working hours adding to ongoing la-bour shortages.
Interestingly enough the meeting identified the single thing in SA that has probably changed the most has been the move by producers to a more formal, longer term sup-ply agreement with cus-tomers.
This coupled with the increased emphasis on welfare and the require-ment to have quality assurance to underpin supply to major retailers has certainly changed the way producers do business.
The boom and bust cycles of years past, in respect to pork supply and grain prices, was seen as something the industry could easily continue to live with-out.
Not surprising was also the discussion around animal welfare and the move by indus-try to loose housing and how this has positioned our Australian pork producers on the world
stage in relation to our competitors.
Has this investment added value that will further down the track help attract significant and worthwhile invest-ment in the industry longer term?
This is certainly a criti-cal question given the average age of producers.
All these issues col-lected from meet-ings such as this are extremely important in contributing to the building of a 2015–2020 Strategic Plan that provides insight into where the industry needs to be moving in the next five years.
The current plan has provided a period of solid returns.
Now it’s time to debate how to build on the more stable platform the indus-try has achieved.
I urge everyone to find the time to participate in these meetings in your individual states.
My thanks go to those SA pig producers who turned up in Rosewor-thy and engaged in an important conversation.
I hope that our other meetings in other states see the same level of involvement and par-ticipation.
Vol 17. No. 9 September 2013 Australian Pork Newspaper PO Box 387 Cleveland 4163 Phone (07) 3286 1833 Fax (07) 3821 2637 Email [email protected]
07 4697 3344
SHED CONSTRUCTION • FULL TURN-KEY SERVICE• Ventilation designs• Installation of equipment• Council applications• Betco kit buildings• Feeding equipment
Stockyard Industries54 King Street, Clifton QLD 4361 www.stockyardindustries.com
www.porknews.com.au
Point of Viewby ANDREW SPENCER CEO
Strategic planning consultation meetings continue in earnest
☛ continued P6
• New South Wales – Young
Tuesday, Sep 10Young Golf Club, William St3pm-6pm, followed by dinner
RSVP to NSW Farmers Members Services on 1300 794 000 or [email protected]
• Victoria – Shepparton
Thursday, Sep 19Aussie Hotel, 73 Fryers St3pm-6pm, followed by dinner
RSVP to Ann-Maree Hastings on 02 6270 8806 or annmaree.hastings@australian pork.com.au
• Queensland – Toowoomba
Wednesday, Oct 2The Burke and Wills Motel, 554 Ruthven St3pm-6pm, followed by dinner
RSVP to Ann-Maree Hastings on 02 6270 8806 or annmaree.hastings@australian pork.com.au
• Western Australia – Perth (in association with WAPPA)
Friday, Oct 18South of Perth Yacht Club, Coffee Point, Duncraig Rd, Applecross,
WAPPA meeting commences 10.30amAPL/Pork CRC Roadshow and Consultation from 2pm-5pm
Annual Industry Dinner will follow at Rowing WA Club Headquarters from 6.30pm
RSVP to Russell Cox on 08 9479 7315, 0428 293 095 or [email protected]
At an Australian piggery – a storage tank (left) col-lects hot water produced by an 80kW biogas fired generator inside the green container.
Biogas simply makes sense
by DR STEPHAN TAITPork CRC Research FellowBioenergy Support Program
It,s a gas
Hot water is then circulated through heat pads in the farrowing sheds.
Page 2 – Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 www.porknews.com.au
07 3286 1833
porknews.com.au
Pig IndustryCalendar of Events
2013SEP 14 - 17 – Allen D. Leman Swine Conference, St Paul, Minnesota USA, www.cvm.umn.edu/vetmedce/events/adl/SEP 10 – APL/Pork CRC Roadshow, Young NSW P: 1300 794 000 [email protected] 19 – APL/Pork CRC Roadshow, Shepparton VIC P: 02 6270 8806 [email protected] SEP 17 - 20 – World Veterinary Conference, Prague, Czech Republic www.wvc2013.com SEP 23 -25 – Asian Pig Veterinary Society Congress, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam www.apvs2013.vn/OCT 2 – APL/Pork CRC Roadshow, Toowoomba QLD P: 02 6270 8806 annmaree. [email protected] 13 - 15 – Leman China Swine Conference, Xi’an, China www.lemanchina.umn.eduOCT 18 – APL/Pork CRC, Perth WA P: 08 9479 7315 [email protected] OCT 23 - 25 – Pork Expo, Mexico www.pork-expo.org OCT 30 – APL/Pork CRC Roadshow, Longford TAS P: 02 6270 8806 [email protected] NOV 20 – APL Delegates Forum, Melbourne VIC P: APL 02 6285 2200NOV 21 – APL Annual Conference and AGM, Melbourne VIC P: APL 02 6285 2200NOV 24 - 27 – Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA) Conference, Melbourne VIC www.apsa.asn.auDEC 7 - 8 – North American PRRS Symposium, Chicago, Illinois USA www.k-state.edu/vet/na-prrs
2014JAN 21 - 24 – Banff Pork Seminar, Canada E: [email protected] www.banffpork.caJAN 23 - 24 – Iowa Pork Congress, Des Moines, USA www.iowaporkcongress.orgMAY 20 - 22 – VIV Europe, Jaarbeurs Utrecht, The Netherlands, www.viveurope.nl MAY 21 - 22 – Pan Pacific Pork Expo, Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, QLD P: APL 02 6285 2200 MAY 25 - 27 – 2014 Australasian Milling Conference, Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, QLD www.millingconference.com.auJUN 4 - 6 – World Pork Expo, Des Moines, Iowa, USA www.worldpork.orgJUN 8 - 11 – International Pig Veterinary Society Congress (IPVS 2014), Cancun Mexico www.ipvs2014.org/AUG 8 - 10 – The 9th Biennial Conference of AAA, Newcastle NSW E: [email protected]
How to supply event details: Send all details to Australian Pork Newspaper, PO Box 387, Cleveland, Qld 4163, fax: 07 3821 2637, email: [email protected]
SWILL FEEDING IS ILLEGAL
Feeding swill to pigs can cause major disease outbreaks
Do not feed meat, meat products or anythingthat has been in contact with meat to pigs
IF YOU SEE ANYTHING UNUSUAL IN YOUR PIGS THAT COULD BE AN EMERGENCY ANIMAL DISEASE, REPORT IT IMMEDIATELY TO THE EMERGENCY ANIMAL DISEASE WATCH HOTLINE 1800 675 888
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CALL YOUR LOCAL DPI ON: NSW VIC QLD SA WA TAS
HOTLINE 1800 675 888
I AM pretty sure most producers and veterinar-ians are aware of the is-sues around human anti-microbial resistance and the increased focus on the livestock industries.
This increased focus has certainly been the case in Canberra with two major meetings held in July.
The first was an An-timicrobial Resistance Roundtable on July 4 and the second an Australian One-Health AMR Collo-quium held on July 18, 2013.
The Roundtable event was partly in preparation for the Australian One Health AMR Colloqui-um and the focus of the roundtable meeting was to share information on what AMR is, the problems and
risks it poses, and current activities on AMR.
For the most part, the roundtable meeting was an open dialogue on is-sues relating to AMR and the meeting conveners were able to gather stake-holder views on issues and concerns.
As a livestock sector
representative, I have to say I went to the meet-ing ready to deflect the usual rhetoric thrown at the livestock industries.
I was pleased to see two excellent presentations from Dr Stephen Page (Advanced Veterinary Therapeutics) on the sci-ence of AMR as it con-
cerns the animal sector, and Prof John Turnidge (SA Pathology) provided the second presentation on the science of AMR as it concerns the human sector.
Both presenters were of the opinion that the use and overuse of antibiot-ics in human medicine is the major factor contrib-uting to the development of AMR.
Also of note was the fact that companion animals were seen as a bigger risk to human health than live-stock industries.
This was summed up well by the figure below outlining the epidemiol-ogy of AMR in terms of human, animal, agricul-tural factors.
However, the science
does support the fact that antibiotic use in farm animals can affect hu-man health through the transfer of resistant bac-teria, although the precise amount is unknown.
Overall Australia was acknowledged to com-pare very favourably to most other countries in the prevalence of highly resistant bacteria found in people and animals.
At the roundtable, the general consensus was that a ban on antimicro-bial use was a knee-jerk reaction but most agreed that a better program to monitor antimicrobial use and AMR was needed.
The Colloquium was convened at the request of
Antibiotic use in firing line
by DARRYL D’SOUZA PhDResearch and Innovation
General Manager
☛ continued P3
Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 – Page 3www.porknews.com.au
APL/Pork CRC Roadshow and 2015–2020 Strategic Plan
Industry Consultation
Australia’s representative body for Australian pork producers, Australian Pork Limited (APL) has launched its 2015–2020 Strategic Plan Consultation and the APL/Pork CRC Roadshow.
being spent and to have input into the 2015–2020 Strategic Plan.
New South Wales – YoungTuesday 10 September
Young Golf Club, William Street3.00pm–6.00pm, followed by dinner
RSVP to NSW Farmers Members Services on 1300 794 000 or [email protected]
Victoria – SheppartonThursday 19 September
Aussie Hotel, 73 Fryers Street3.00pm–6.00pm, followed by dinner
Antibiotic use in firing linethe Secretaries of the Aus-tralian Government De-partment of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Department of Health and Ageing to provide advice to government on key priorities and strate-gies across the human and animal sectors to address AMR in Australia, with particular reference to surveillance requirements and regulatory reform.
Much of the Colloquium focused on the need for national AMR strategy, with a need for informa-tion on the prevalence and trends of antimicrobial re-sistance at local, national and international levels to guide policy and detect changes that require inter-vention strategies.
The four key questions discussed during the Col-loquium centred on risk assessment, risk manage-ment, communication to stakeholders and jurisdic-tions and measurement, specifically surveillance and monitoring.
The discussion also fo-cused on the mechanisms to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use including: limiting future antibi-otic approvals; antibiotic restrictions; additional treatment formularies and prescriber guidelines, re-strictions on the use of certain antibiotic classes, limiting the prescribers’ profit on the sale of an-timicrobial agents; price and taxation; voluntary withdrawals or banning of drugs; preventive veteri-nary medicinal strategies; and controlling spread of resistant bacteria.
The final outcomes of the Colloquium have not been sent out to partici-pants yet, but the need for a national AMR surveil-lance program that also includes the monitoring of antibiotic use is hopefully the most likely outcome.
The big question is who pays?
At this stage, govern-ment does not appear to have the funds to establish a national AMR surveil-lance program.
My views are quite sim-ple; for the most part this is a human health issue and as such the majority of such surveillance pro-grams must be funded by the human health depart-ments (federal and state).
The Australian pork in-dustry prides itself on be-ing ‘clean and green’.
Antibiotics are not used in the Australian pork in-dustry for growth promo-tant purposes.
They are used for either prophylactic use (to pre-vent a disease from occur-ring) or therapeutic use (to treat a disease once it has occurred).
The APIQ✓ Program also encompasses a stan-dard regarding antibiotic usage.
The standard states that a list approved and signed by a veterinarian is avail-able for all medications used, including any in-feed medications.
This must show the medication and its intend-ed use, dose rate to apply and if label or off-label use.
Like most things how-ever, we will need to dem-onstrate our AMR creden-tials.
APL has funded a num-ber of ‘pilot’ surveys and these indicate a low AMR prevalence.
APL has also had a number of discussions with leaders in human medicine (The Austral-asian Society for Infec-tious Diseases and the Australian Society for Antimicrobials) to work together to develop a draft Surveillance Program of which the objectives are:
• Ensuring antibiotics used in pork production are rated to be of low im-portance in the context of human health.
• Ensuring Australian pork is free from microbi-al residues and multi-drug resistant bacteria.
• Develop pork study protocols as a basis for programs in other agricul-tural production.
• Discussions completed to establish pilot testing program for early next year.
One thing that is clear from these continuing discussions is that it is imperative that a single program should be devel-oped to encompass both humans and animals, that is, one program, two components (animals and humans), with the animal component further di-vided into imported and exported food.
Such a program would ensure seamless consis-tency and feedback across issues.
For further informa-tion on any of the topics discussed please do not hesitate to contact me on 02 6270 8804 or [email protected].
University of Copenhagen’s Dr Charlotte Amdi Williams taking saliva samples from sows for subsequent cortisol analysis.
Figure 1. Average litter size (TBA) of sows in Denmark (National Average of Productivity. Swine Production 2012, Note No. 1314, Danish Pig Research Centre)
King of DenmarkPORK CRC Program One leader Ray King is spending a few months in Denmark and, in true leader’s style and in keeping with his pro-gram ‘Reduced Confine-ment of Sows and Pig-lets’, he’s kindly agreed to share some observa-tions and thoughts with APN readers.
In particular, Ray has highlighted the increas-ingly high litter sizes he’s observed on commercial pig farms in Denmark and the nurse sow strategy the Danes have developed to ensure these pigs survive and grow well until wean-ing.
Thoughtfully, he’s also shared some important messages for Australian producers about fostering techniques that may be learned from those nurse sow experiences.
So, I’ll let Ray pick up the story from here.Danish data
The Pig Research Cen-tre in Denmark collects annual performance data from a sizeable proportion of their pork industry.
For 2012 they collected data from 629 sow herds, with a total of 410,000 sows, or about 40 percent of the national herd.
While finisher pig per-formance in the better piggeries in Australia may be comparable to
Danish piggeries (average age their pigs reach 100kg liveweight is 20-21 weeks, with an overall FCR of about 2.5), the reproduc-tive performance of our sows lags well behind.
Across this Danish data set, the average litter size in 2012 was 15.1 born alive with an average of 13.1 weaned per litter, or 29.6 weaners produced per sow per year.
Interestingly litter size has steadily increased by at least 0.2 pigs per litter over recent years (Figure 1), with much of this in-crease probably attribut-able to their genetic pro-gram.
Litter size was given a greater emphasis in their pig selection program from the 1990s.
Towards the mid-2000s, the number of live pigs at five days after farrowing became the key reproduc-tive selection criterion and
now accounts for more than 25 percent of the se-lection index in the Dan-ish pig breeding program.
Note that these figures in Figure 1 are averages and many producers reg-ularly exceed these high levels of reproductive out-put.
For one 1200 sow farm I visited near Copenhagen, average litter size was 16.8 TBA and the farm produced 33.0 weaners/sow last year.
Producing these high lit-ter sizes puts considerable emphasis on ensuring that the large litter size and corresponding lower birth weight piglets survive through to weaning.
Apart from good lacta-tion management in the farrowing house, one of the major strategies the Danes use to ensure they wean as many of the pig-lets born as possible is to use ‘nurse’ sows.
Nurse sowsNurse sows can be made
directly by weaning a lit-ter of piglets ready to be weaned and then letting this sow receive the one day old piglets from other sows.
However, the late lacta-tion sow is used to her piglets initiating lactation, so she will often be slow to start lacta tion with her new and very young litter.
Further, there is an in-creased risk that the late lactation sow will exhibit oestrus in the lactation period after receiving the relatively young litter.
Something that is not desired by the Danish pig industry, but may be a strategy that assists in achieving the outcomes of a viable and fertile oes-trus during lactation that is being investigated by the Pork CRC.
Nurse sows are now more often used in a two-step process by weaning a litter of 3-4 week old piglets that are ready to be weaned.
The late lactation sow then receives 4-7 day old piglets from another sow that is now ready to re-ceive the one day old pig-lets.
Usually the heavier day old piglets from a number of newly farrowed sows are transferred to the new
Initiativesby DR ROGER CAMPBELL
CEO
☛ from P2
☛ continued P4
Page 4 – Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 www.porknews.com.au
sow that is in its first to second week of lactation.
This early lactation sow receives the piglets quick-er, as she is used to initiate the lactation.
Obviously, the strategy of nurse sows is expen-sive, as the nurse sow takes up space in a far-rowing pen in which a new litter could be born.
However, this strategy has been successful and is necessary in ensuring pig producers can achieve high weaned numbers.Milk production
In the first day with the small piglets, the milk production decreases con-siderably.
However if suckling in-tensity and teat order is established fairly quickly, the decrease in milk pro-duction is minimal.
In our milk yield stud-ies at Werribee, Victoria almost 20 years ago, we found that by the end of the first week after trans-ferring a litter of day old piglets to sows in their second week of lactation, average milk production was only reduced by up to 10-15 percent or about one litre/day.
By the second week af-ter fostering, milk yield of the sow had returned to normal levels.
Interestingly, when we
did the reverse (foster a litter of two-week-old pig-lets onto a newly farrowed sow), milk production in-creased by almost three litres per day within the first week of lactation.
Danish R&D has con-firmed that in the first few days with the younger (and smaller) piglets fos-tered onto a late lactation sow, the milk production decreases considerably, but then increases to a level, albeit often slightly lower than previously, be-cause of the smaller pig-lets that are suckling.Animal welfare
With the welfare of nurse sows recently being questioned, the University of Copenhagen and the Danish Pig Research Cen-tre have initiated a project to examine welfare im-plications of using nurse sows in commercial pig production.
Dr Charlotte Amdi Wil-liams at the University of Copenhagen is examining the welfare and behav-iour of sows with their newly established litters to determine if the newly formed litters, or the sows
receiving these litters, are under significantly great-er stress.
At day seven after farrow-ing, a sow will have her lit-ter of 14 piglets transferred to another sow whose litter has just been weaned 21 days after farrowing.
The seven day lactating sow will then receive ex-cess piglets from a num-ber of newly farrowed sows to establish a new litter of 14 piglets.
Both groups of sows and their new litters will be assessed for welfare indi-ces such as cortisol saliva and sow heart rate.
Also, video recordings of sow and piglet behav-iour will be analysed to determine if there are any welfare implications for the seven day lacta-tion sow receiving day old piglets or for the 21 day lactation sow receiv-ing a seven day old litter through the introduction of these fostering strate-gies.
Potential effects on pig-let behaviour may also be studied to determine if it could be compromised by these fostering strategies. Australian messages
The considerable R&D conducted in Denmark to establish viable strate-gies for establishing nurse sows has highlighted some key points that may apply when employing cross fostering techniques in Australia where usually only a few piglets may be moved onto/off sows of comparable stages of lactation to equalise num-bers. They are:
• Wait until the piglets are at least 12 hours old
before fostering to ensure they obtain adequate co-lostrum.
• Shift the heavier new born piglets to sows later in lactation.
• Don’t shift piglets be-tween sheds. Shift the sows between sheds, rather than piglets, to re-duce the risk of transfer of disease.
• Transfer piglets to sows that are milking well.
• Foster new born pig-lets onto contemporary sows or sows within 4-7 days of lactation, to en-sure minimal disruption to suckling and lactation performance.
• Make up a litter with small pigs/runts and place them on a good milking sow. Don’t mix runts in a litter with larger pigs. Previously, a runt was often exchanged with a large thriving piglet from another litter and it was expected that the runt would do better at the large piglet’s teat. It is a better solution to place an entire litter of runts with one sow.
• It doesn’t seem to matter whether first parity sows or older sows are used as nurse sows. Any parity sow may be used, provided they are milking well.
We look forward to learning more from Ray while he’s in Denmark and next time he might let us know what he’s picked up regarding weaning into groups and mixing strategies, which is one of the keys here at home as more and more producers transition to group sow housing. www.porkcrc.com.au
Danes focus on reducing organic herd mortalityA STUDY commis-sioned by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark has shown high piglet mortality in organic herds.
The scientists behind the report concluded efforts should be made to im-prove survival.
There is high piglet mor-tality in Danish pig pro-duction.
Against this background, the Ministry of Food, Ag-riculture and Fisheries and the pig farmers’ asso-ciation agreed in 2011 on an action plan to reduce piglet mortality.
The plan also focuses on a long-term breeding program to ensure that more piglets survive, ben-efitting both conventional and organic productions.
The study that Aarhus University undertook for the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries shows, however, that there is a need for a special effort in organic pig pro-duction.
Mortality is higher in organic production than in conventional production, and there are several rea-sons for this.
In conventional herds,
the stock manager has some management op-tions that are difficult to practise in organic herds.
For example, in conven-tional systems there is the option to move pig-lets from large litters to a nursing sow whose own piglets have been weaned.
In organic production, the lactation period is two to three weeks longer than in conventional pro-duction, giving an organic nursing sow a very long lactation period.
In addition, a number of practical issues affect piglet mortality.
In the organic produc-tion, the sows farrow in huts in a free-range sys-tem, making it difficult to monitor the perinatal and early lactation period, and thus to intervene if pigs are in need of help.
Finally, the organic pig-lets are highly vulnerable to natural hazards in the form of foxes and birds of prey.
Studies from organic farms show a piglet mor-tality rate of about 33 percent, which is higher than in conventional pig production.
Although scientists em-phasise that the data mate-
rial is not extensive, there is a clear need to look for ways to reduce piglet mor-tality in organic herds.
The scientists point out that there is a need to think innovatively in the design of the farrowing area and in the development of moni-toring tools and improved access to the sows.
Senior scientist Lene Juul Pedersen, who wrote the report for the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries together with sec-tion manager Jan Tind Sø-rensen said, “Better access for monitoring combined with better access to the huts will give us a better chance to adjust litter sizes and to use nursing sows.”
“There is also a need to explore the prospects of breeding sows that are better adapted to the or-ganic production condi-tions with farrowing in huts in the open,” Jan Tind Sørensen said.
“In short, the organic sows need to produce fewer but larger and more robust pigs.”
This would mean the sow would be able to look after her own litter, and the lack of monitoring op-portunities would be less important.
Dr Ray King
☛ from P3
Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 – Page 5www.porknews.com.au
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Page 6 – Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 www.porknews.com.au
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AUSTRALIAN PORK LIMITEDELECTED DIRECTOR VACANCIES
Nominations are being called for two Australian Pork Limited (APL) elected director vacancies. These elected director positions will be vacant on Thursday 21 November 2013.
A member of APL or a member of the APL Board can nominate person/s to stand for election. The APL Board HR & Remuneration Committee will review all nominations received in line with APL’s Statutory Funding Agreement which requires a ‘Skills Based Board’. This means a Board that can demonstrate collective expertise against each of the following areas:
Corporate governance;Pig production; Production or processing of pig meat;Product promotion and retail marketingMarket development and international trade;Research and development, technology transfer, commercialisation of research and development and innovation;Conservation and management of natural resources;Administration of research and development; and
Candidates are required to advise which of the above skill sets they have expertise in and how they gained this experience. In addition a short curriculum vitae should be provided.
Nominations for this position close on Thursday 10 October 2013.
For further information and to obtain a nomination form contact: Mrs Christine Quick, General Manager Finance and Administration/Company Secretary Australian Pork LimitedPO Box 4746, Kingston ACT 2604 Phone: 02 6270 8805Email: [email protected]
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is an additional financial reward.CRC encouraging
The Pork CRC has pro-actively encouraged up-take of biogas to the ben-efit of the pork industry.
Apart from the Bioenergy Support Program, which has greatly reduced tech-nical risk in the industry, targeted research under Pork CRC Program 4C is developing further low cost technology options for pro-ducers (see Alan Skerman and Janine Price profiles in this issue of APN), work-ing out what inhibits and stimulates biogas produc-tion in ponds to allow bet-ter control, together with APL working out sludge removal options for cov-ered lagoons and develop-ing simple on-farm anaero-bic digestion technology options for spent litter to produce more biogas ener-
gy and high value fertiliser products.
The deep litter digestion work has attracted sub-stantial additional federal funding from the Depart-ment of Agriculture Fish-eries and Forestry of about $332,000 to the benefit of the pork industry.
Initiatives such as these will ensure that biogas be-comes available to benefit more piggeries.
It has been projected that more than 30 percent of national pork production will be using biogas energy by 2020.
These are exciting times, with the prospect of a fu-ture pork industry using biogas to markedly reduce energy costs and achieve global environmental cre-dentials.
For more information, contact Stephan Tait on 0466 699 817 or email [email protected]
Biogas simply makes sense☛ from P1
Pork CRC program leader profile■ Subprogram 4C: Carbon-Neutral Pork ProductionPORK CRC Subpro-gram 4C leader is Janine Price.
Janine has a Bachelor of Applied Science (environ-mental science and micro-biology/biotechnology) from La Trobe Univer-sity and has worked with agricultural industries, including dairy, broilers, eggs and feedlots for the past 17 years in research, extension and regulatory/policy roles.
Her first role was with DPI Victoria in the dairy industry, working on sup-plementary feeding trials before getting into her favourite subject, that is, effluent and manure.
According to Janine, de-signing effluent systems and working in nutrient management on irrigated and dryland agriculture led to quite a few interest-ing nicknames, including ‘poo princess’, ‘effluent queen’ and many others that can’t be printed here!
It was in this role that Janine was involved in
writing and developing extension materials, such as the DairyGains Victo-rian Effluent Guidelines and Guidelines for Victo-rian Dairy feedpads and free stalls.
In this role she won a state DPI award for target-ed stakeholder information.Good catch
After a short stint man-aging community con-sultation groups for a Catchment Management Authority, Janine began working with the Environ-mental Protection Author-ity, a position involving the chicken, egg, feedlot, dairy and pig industries from a policy and regula-tory perspective, develop-ing policies, interpreting legislation, planning and the development of codes of practice.
This experience put her in good stead for some of the many interesting and challenging planning and legislative inquiries she receives in the pig industry.
It was during this role that Janine worked on the Victorian Pig Code of Practice and developed, co-wrote and presented a Municipal Association of Victoria training course on assessing intensive livestock industries which was a finalist in the Victo-rian Planning Association awards.
She was involved in developing the EPA/DPI cross agency framework as well as developing ef-fluent auditing questions that were originally ad-opted by dairy compa-nies and are now used by Dairy Food Safety Vic-toria as part of its food safety program.Dream job
After five years at the EPA, Janine was enticed to the pig industry by its pro-activity and willing-ness to undertake and adopt new research and best practices in relation to the environment.
During her time in the pig industry, Janine has
been involved in many en-viro research and exten-sion activities, plus policy issues.
She has managed to still keep the effluent manure dream alive and has a strong interest in manure management and biogas.
As well as managing APL’s enviro research, she manages the Nation-al Agricultural Manure Management Program worth $8.44m and assists Dr Rob Wilson with Pork CRC Program 4.
Janine is excited about the alignment of the Pork CRC and APL environ-mental programs and is confident that not only will we see enviro ben-efits in the pork industry but there will be econom-ic benefits for the industry as well.
The Pork CRC Carbon Neutral Pork Production program involves research to maximise methane pro-duction from piggery efflu-ent ponds so that collection
Alan Skerman, DAFF QLD, Jeremy Whitby, Queensland Natural Pork Holdings, Stephan Heubeck, NIWA NZ, Janine Price, Hugh Payne, DAFWA at the Methane 2 Markets demonstration site at Jeremy Whitby’s Grantham, Queensland piggery.
☛ continued P7
Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 – Page 7www.porknews.com.au
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is economically viable. It also looks at alter-
nate approaches to waste management to develop solid waste pork produc-tion systems that mitigate carbon outputs. Well rounded
Pork CRC Subpro-gram 4C is providing the industry with a very well-rounded program on emissions reduction, from feasibilities to pro-ducer support programs, research into alternative scrubbing media, work-ing out what inhibits and stimulates methane in ponds, anaerobic diges-tion of deep litter manures to life cycle assessments that demonstrate what our current emissions are and identify pathways to fur-ther reduce these emis-sions.
This program is demon-
strating that the industry goal of on-farm emis-sions of around 1kgCo2-eq per kg pork produced is achievable and that the Australian pork industry has the potential to have the lowest global warming potential of pork produc-tion worldwide.
According to Janine, all of the projects of Sub-program 4C have demon-strated some great results and a fantastic component of Pork CRC’s Program 4 is the Bioenergy Support Program run out of the University of Queensland.
This program is highly practical, utilising and bringing together Pork CRC and APL research and applying it at the farm level.
A measure of its suc-cess is the large volume of inquiries, legislative changes to the Carbon
Farming Initiative which have assisted producers to earn carbon credits and that 7 percent of pro-duction is currently cap-turing and/or utilising biogas, with another 16 percent of production in the planning and design phase.Positive projection
Through this work and the work of APL projects, Janine has been positively influencing the Australian pork industry towards be-coming a leader in emis-sions reduction and en-vironmental programs in general.
P.S. Janine thinks that Pig poo is the best manure she has ever worked with – lots of potential!
For all things environ-ment or to talk sh#t, please contact Janine Price, email janine.price@aus tralianpork.com.au
Pork CRC program leader profile
Janine Price participating at the 2013 Pork CRC pig production course, Roseworthy, SA.
☛ from P6
Australian market open to British porkNOW the Australian mar-ket is open to British pork, BPEX is taking part in the Fine Food Australia exhibition to develop the market.
This is the leading trade event for the food industry which takes place in Sydney from September 9-12.
Australia is a net importer of pork, all of which is used for further processing, that is, to be pre-cooked for
the production of processed pork products with the aim of protecting the pig health status of this island nation.
The UK joins other EU countries which already have access to the markets, with some of them export-ing sizeable volumes of pork.
Fine Food Australia is the major showcase for Aus-tralian and imported food.BPEX export manager Jean-Pierre Garnier said,
“We are very upbeat with the potential of British pork in Australia.
“Obviously, we face tough competition from established exporters such as Denmark, the Neth-erlands, Canada and the USA and from new en-trants such as Belgium who are pushing hard to gain market share and will also be exhibiting at the show,” he said.
“We aim to offer con-
sistent, high quality pork produced to the Red Trac-tor mark which includes welfare standards.
“Australia is one of the countries where farm ani-mal welfare really counts.
“Our participation in Fine Food Australia comes at a time when UK exports of pork, pig offal and sausages are booming. Increasing the number of outlets for our product can only be a good thing.”
ZOETIS has affirmed its commitment to finding a solution to help control the recent outbreak of Porcine Epidemic Diar-rhoea virus.
The devastating, costly virus has been positively identified in 17 US states since April.
Michael Senn, DVM, MS, manager, Pork Tech-nical Services, Zoetis said, “As a veterinarian, I am committed to find-ing a solution, including quick-yielding diagnostic tools and efficacious vac-cines, that can control this devastating virus.
“We are drawing upon our global research and development resources as well as working with health authorities and veterinary centres of excellence worldwide to identify effective solu-tions and help the pork industry achieve re-sults,” he said.
Zoetis is support-ing University of Min-nesota researchers to develop a rapid PED virus diagnostic test.
Gloria Basse, vice presi-dent, US Pork Business Unit, Zoetis said, “Help-ing fund the develop-ment of the rapid diag-nostic tool is just one way we are investing in and finding a solution against this virus.
“We believe that diag-nostic tools and vaccines are part of the solution equation. Our research and development teams will continue to collabo-rate with our university and industry partners until this disease is con-trolled,” she said.
PED virus, similar to transmissible gastroen-teritis, can cause devas-tating losses up to 100 percent in infected piglets up to three weeks of age.
Weaned pigs and adult pigs are at less severe risk, but they can suffer reduced growth rates.
The virus spreads rap-idly through a herd via faecal-oral contamination and infects pigs within 12 to 36 hours.
Until a solution is found, producers and
veterinarians must re-main on high alert.Dr Senn said, “While we continue our efforts to determine the best so-lution to PED virus, it’s important that producers remain vigilant to their herd’s health and contact their veterinarian if they suspect abnormalities.
“Producers should heighten their biosecurity awareness,” he said.
“This outbreak serves as a good reminder to review biosecurity practices with your employees, truckers and consultants who have regular contact with your farm.”
Dr Senn suggests these biosecurity practices shared by the American Association of Swine Vet-erinarians:
• Label and use chutes for loading and unload-ing. Use the loading chute only for animals that are leaving your farm. Healthy animals unload-ed using the loading chute could be exposed to the virus.
• Wash and disinfect
all unloading chutes and driver areas as often as possible. Use a 2 percent phenol-based disinfectant in the areas where drivers walk to enter the chute, from point of entry to the top and all areas where the chute contacts the truck.
• Require that all trail-ers used to pick up ani-mals be cleaned and dis-infected before arrival. Be sure to allow enough time for the disinfectant to dry completely before use.
• Provide coveralls and boots for employ-ees to wear while on the farm. These materials should stay on-site and be washed routinely.
• If your farm allows guests, provide clear di-rection for where they should report upon arrival. Also, provide them with coveralls and boots before they enter any facilities.For more information on PED virus, visit with your veterinarian.
Information also is available online at www.aasv.org.
Finding a solution to PED virus
Page 8 – Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 www.porknews.com.au
Philosophical about budget biogas optionsALAN Skerman is working on a Master of Philosophy degree through the University of Queensland Advanced Water Management Cen-tre, in collaboration with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research, New Zealand.
His research topic, which is being conducted under the Pork CRC’s Subprogram 4C – Car-bon-Neutral Pork Produc-tion, is ‘Low-cost options for biogas energy use on-farm at piggeries’.
Interest in the collection, treatment and use of bio-gas has increased across the Australian pork indus-try in recent years, driven mainly by the significant potential to reduce energy costs and carbon emis-sions from individual pig-geries and the industry as a whole.
Further financial incen-tives, such as the Carbon Farming Initiative, have also added to the interest.Major obstacles
One of the major ob-stacles to the widespread adoption of biogas tech-nology is the presence of relatively high concentra-tions of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), generally ranging from 500 to 3000ppm in the raw biogas collected from covered anaerobic ponds and engineered digesters. The corrosive, odorous and toxic nature
of the H2S can limit the life of appliances such as engines used to drive gen-erators to produce elec-tricity and boilers used to heat water for circulation through farrowing sheds, while potentially threat-ening the health of hu-mans and livestock.Novel options
Alan’s research pro-ject seeks to identify and properly characterise novel and low-cost biogas purification options for on-farm use.
Identifying and de-scribing suitable purifi-cation media will help farmers better utilise biogas resources, protect equipment using biogas and make biogas utilisa-tion safer and more prof-itable.
Increased ease and prof-itability of biogas use will accelerate uptake of bio-
gas technology, enhanc-ing pork production sus-tainability while reducing production costs through-out Australia and NZ.
Uptake will be further enhanced by focusing on substrates and technology currently available and which may be used with-out IP limitations.
Alan’s proposed re-search will:
• Identify up to five low-cost, ‘alternative’ biogas purification media (waste and by-products)
• Estimate their avail-ability and likely price
• Determine their abil-ity to purify biogas under controlled conditions
• Identify how these ma-terials may be incorpo-rated into a biogas capture and use system
• Estimate their efficacy relative to commercially available substrates
• Guide appropriate handling of promising alternative biogas purifi-cation media under field conditions.
Alan is a principal en-vironmental engineer employed by the De-partment of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Queensland), which is providing significant in-kind support for this pro-ject.
He previously success-fully led several APL research projects investi-gating improved effluent management technologies and the validation and de-velopment of the PigBal model.
Alan also recently com-pleted three additional research projects under the Australian Methane to Markets in Agriculture program, trialling piggery biogas collection, treat-ment and use technologies at a commercial piggery in southern Queensland.
This work has provided Alan with considerable relevant experience lead-ing into his current Mas-ters project.
Alan is currently a mem-ber of APL’s Specialist Group 5 (environmental management) and the Pork CRC Biogas Support Program Steering Com-mittee.
‘Low-cost options for biogas energy use on-farm at piggeries’
Supervisors: Dr Stephan Tait, University of Queensland and Stephan Heubeck, NIWA, NZ.
Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 – Page 9www.porknews.com.au
HAVING recently cel-ebrated my father’s 80th birthday at the local pub (now mine and once his), I got to thinking about what it means to be a dad.
And, with Father’s Day marking the first day of spring, it gave me all the more reason to freshly contemplate how father-hood has changed, argu-ably for the better, as decades of seasons have subsequently passed my way.
While I don’t for a mo-ment think today’s fathers love their children or care more for them more than those of yesteryear, I do feel that society’s expecta-tions today go well beyond that of yesteryear when a father was often regarded largely as the breadwin-ner, while the mother was the home-maker.
Typically the two roles rarely overlapped.
Today, the mother might work, while the father might take care of the kids or, as in most mod-ern households, there’s a mix of both.
Back in the mid-1950s, my dad, as was the case at the time, quickly dropped my mum off at the local ‘farrowing shed’ (Wood-side maternity hospital) so she could give birth to me in peace without the dis-traction of her husband’s presence.
I understand he was keen to escape the birth-ing ritual and would never
have got past the duty hos-pital matron had he even wanted to make his pres-ence felt.
Such was simply the case back then.
A few decades later and I happily attended the births of both my chil-dren, but I’m not sure I was much more than a politically correct distrac-tion.
In other words, I was expected to be there and of course was very happy to be so.
So, what does father-hood mean today that’s different to what it meant yesterday?
Based on a mix of per-sonal experience and so-cial observation, my take on things is that father-hood today is about:
• Nurturing and provid-ing, emotionally and fi-nancially.
• Understanding that your children grow up quicker than you did.
• Accepting that your children have a much big-
ger view of the world than you did at their age.
• Hoping that the world they will inhabit as adults will be a better one than yours.
• Educating your chil-dren in the precious art
of face-to-face communi-cation.
• Informing your chil-dren about the values of the past, while not under-valuing their world and the spheres of influence they experience.
• Sharing family stories so that your children under-stand tradition and have a sense of history and place.
• Embracing change, especially technology, as best you can.
• Encouraging your chil-dren to understand that money is a means to an end, but not the end game.
• Guiding your children along a path of giving, not taking.
The author’s dad Ray and mum Joan, enjoyed lunch last year at a Donnybrook winery. Although on oxygen 24/7, Ray still manages to get out and about. Tough guys those ol’ fellas.
Making a father’s dayCant
Comment by BRENDON CANT
Biomin Asia Nutrition Forum spans six citiesBIOMIN has an-nounced the dates and locations for its bien-nial Asia Nutrition Fo-rum, which will fea-ture a theme for 2013 of “NutriEconomics - Balancing Global Nu-trition & Productivity” and focus on people, performance, profit and planet.
The forum will span six cities from October 14-24: Qingdao, China; Guangzhou, China; Ho Chi Minh City, Viet-nam; Seoul, South Korea; Tokyo; and Hy-derabad, India.
Erich Erber, founder of BIOMIN, director of executive board said: “Survival alone is not enough.”
“We need to progress in order to feed an ever growing world popula-tion,” he said.
“Despite increasing crop yields and more advanced food produc-tion techniques, hun-ger and starvation are problems that still exist today.
“Where food needs are adequate, the right balance of nutrients is most important, es-pecially for a young child.”
At the forum, industry professionals from the pig, poultry, dairy and aquaculture sectors will gather to discuss issues faced by the food and
agri-industry today.The forum will in-
clude a panel of renown industry experts, in-cluding Mary Barton, emeritus professor at the University of South Australia; John Baize, president of John C. Baize and Associates; Robert Van Barneveld, professor at the Uni-versity of New England and consultant research scientist of Barneveld Nutrition Pty Ltd; and Leonardo Linares, technical service nutri-tionist of Aviagen.
Addressing the issue of the environment, Nu-triEconomics will con-tinue to influence the role of animal nutrition in achieving sustainable yet profitable farming.
Besides growing com-petition for agricultural commodities from the food, feed and biofuel sectors, producers are also faced with obli-gations to cap carbon emissions - a move that will have significant bearing on production costs.
By tackling the twin objectives of quality nutrition and economic viability, and concur-rently addressing envi-ronmental concerns, the forum’s focus will be on solutions that pave the way ahead for the future of sustainable animal nutrition.
Page 10 – Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 www.porknews.com.au
AUSTRALIA’S pork industry has been en-thusiastically embracing the benefits of on-farm biogas energy, despite a relative lack of renew-able energy incentives in Australia.
According to Rob Wil-son, leader of the Pork CRC’s Program Four (‘Carbon conscious nutri-ent inputs and outputs’), biogas energy suits the Australian pork industry well because pork ma-nure offers a high yield to biogas and significant amounts of heat is re-quired on-farm at pigger-ies.
Biogas is being used at Australian piggeries for direct heating via hot wa-ter or for combined heat and power, with on-site use and/or grid exports of
excess power. “In Australia, the finan-
cial returns from direct on-site use of the biogas energy have typically been far greater than for grid exports, due to pre-vailing low feed-in tar-iffs,” Dr Wilson said.
About 8 percent of Australia’s national pork production is harvesting biogas, with a further 2 percent or so under con-struction and an addition-al 10 percent in various stages of planning and development.
It has been projected that more than 30 percent of national pork produc-tion will be using biogas energy by 2020.
According to Dr Wilson, the most popular biogas systems have been un-heated conventional cov-
ered lagoons because of their relatively low cost, simplicity and low opera-tor input requirements.
“Also, space is not so restricted, with pigger-ies being highly dis-persed and because the prevailing warm climate in Australia leads to only relatively modest season-able fluctuations in biogas flow.”
To drive the uptake of biogas at Australian and New Zealand piggeries, the Pork CRC is funding a Bioenergy Support Pro-gram led by Dr Stephan Tait at the AWMC, Uni-versity of Queensland.
The BSP promotes bi-ogas energy, supports pork producers with site-based feasibility assessments for biogas, provides technical information and resources to streamline adoption based on case study data from demonstration sites in Australia and NZ and identifies and promotes opportunities for targeted research to further benefit the pork industry.
The BSP has had con-tact with more than 150 pork producers directly, or through pork industry facilitated forums and seminars.
Support has covered production sizes and sys-tems and adoption of bi-ogas has been shown to be economically feasible at many sites, with a sig-nificant positive return on investment over 10 years.
Other BSP activities have included scope defi-nition for producers nego-tiating with regulators and local councils, fostering the build-up of a supplier base by providing direct support to suppliers on piggery biogas projects and doing engineering ‘health checks’ on system designs and projected bi-ogas flows.
The Pork CRC’s BSP also offers a laboratory analytical service, which includes measurements of biogas composition to help appropriately size en-
gine generators. A Masters Research pro-
ject through the BSP by Alan Skerman, Principal Environmental Engineer of DAFF Queensland, based in Toowoomba, is developing cost-effective biogas cleaning options for on-farm use to in-crease the life of biogas infrastructure.
“Life cycle assessments of Australian pork supply chains have suggested the majority of greenhouse gas emissions for produc-tion are methane emis-sions from effluent treat-ment and that capturing and using biogas on-site can reduce on farm emis-sions by as much as 60-80 percent,” Dr Wilson said.
“This suggests the in-dustry goal of on-farm emissions of around 1kg-Co2-eq per kg pork pro-duced is achievable and that the Australian pork industry has the potential to have the lowest global warming potential of pork production worldwide.”
The Australian Govern-ment has established a Carbon Farming Initiative which enables pork pro-ducers to receive carbon credits for capturing and burning biogas on their farms.
The Pork CRC, via Dr Tait has contributed to the technical development of two of the three piggery methodologies approved under the CFI, with one piggery recently generat-ing 8169 Australian Car-bon Credit Units for 14
months operation and selling it on at a value of $185,000.
This income, alongside a $15,000 per month re-duction in energy costs and a $5000 per month cheque for electricity grid exports, has made envi-ronmental sustainability a very profitable cause for this pork producer.
The research team at the AWMC has also been granted federal funding of about $332,000 to de-velop feasible anaerobic processing technology for solid straw manures (spent litter) to give ad-ditional clean power and high-value fertilisers and further reduce emissions from pork production.
The Pork CRC and APL are supporting this three year project, with the Pork CRC additionally invest-ing in research at the AW-MC to better understand inhibition and stimulation of methane production in covered piggery lagoons, to further enhance meth-ane production for benefi-cial use and value-add to the industry.
Dr Wilson said, “Look-ing ahead, the future of bi-ogas energy at Australian piggeries looks bright and with the ongoing support of the Bioenergy Support Program through the Pork CRC and APL, these op-portunities are becoming a reality across Australia.”
For further informa-tion on the BSP, contact Dr Stephan Tait, email [email protected]
Farrowing and weaner crates, growers and baconer pens. Feed hopper with stainless steel trough.
Farrowing flooring with a 10mm gap; weaners flooring with a 12mm gap; and growers flooring with a 15mm gap.
Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 – Page 13www.porknews.com.au
Fred SchwenkeBusiness Unit Director IntensiveIntensive – MonogastricZoetis Australia Pty Ltd38-42 Wharf Road, West Ryde, NSW 2114PO Box 548, West Ryde NSW 1685T (02) 8876 0378 F (02) 8876 0444 E [email protected] +61 417 844 231 W www.zoetis.com.au
Dr Timothy Ahern B. Sc. (Hons) B.V.Sc. (Hons) Dip.Reprod.Sci
National Pig Business Manager
Intensive – MonogastricZoetis Australia Pty Ltd38-42 Wharf Road, West Ryde, NSW 2114
DAIRIES - PIGGERIES - ABATTOIRSProudly designed & manufactured in AustraliaNO BEARINGS OR SEALS UNDERWATERCan run dry indefinitely without damageHIGH HEADS AND HUGE OUTPUTSIdeally suited for travelling irrigatorsUNIQUE NON CLOG IMPELLER
WENDY LAYCOCKOperations ManagerSales Protein Division
Protecting your farmRECENTLY I had dis-cussions with a pro-ducer who’d had an animal activist raid on his farm.
The stress endured by the producer and his family was clearly evident throughout the discussion, let alone the concerns of biosecurity impacts.
His comment, “I didn’t think my farm would be a target” and the recent increase in raids, espe-cially in southern states, has prompted me to re-mind other producers and challenge them to take adequate precau-tions to limit or prevent illegal entry to their farms.
While industry will always defend approved practices by producers who are being unfairly attacked by animal ac-tivists, it is your farm and business under threat and you should minimise the risk.
Don’t wait until you are faced with such an event!
Get out now and do your own cross-check.
Have you got your property secure with adequate signage as a first line of defence?
Make sure you have the access to sheds se-cure, especially after hours.
Many producers have now invested in their own monitoring and alarm systems, includ-ing the use of electronic detection devices to identify illegal entry and camera installa-tions.
One of your best
forms of protection is the adoption of a sound quality assurance sys-tem such as APIQ where third party audit-ing provides independ-ent checks that your operation is meeting standards.
Just as important are your own on-farm checks and records of training and key daily functions which form part of a QA plan.
Such records become invaluable should legal action be instigated, as they show your level of past compliance and when you have an issue on farm, what actions you have taken to rem-
edy the problem.If you are doing the
right thing you may need to be able to prove it.
You should contact Australian Pork Lim-ited for further informa-tion on the industry QA plan APIQ and other valuable information on protecting your farm from raids.
Remember if you be-come aware of an intru-sion you should have a preplanned approach to the event.
First, contact the po-lice and report the in-trusion and request im-mediate support, espe-cially if intruders are still present.
If you confront the intruders, inform them they are trespassing and have entered the prop-erty illegally and that you have contacted the police.
Take any evidence to support the raid but avoid physical force.
President’s Perspective
by JOHN COWARD
Getting a good result■ Free farrowing workshop Forbes NSWA SUCCESSFUL farrowing where the majority (95 percent) of piglets are born alive and survive to weaning is the goal of any successful pork pro-ducer.
Preparation for successful farrowing begins with the previous lactation for a sow or in the selection pen for the gilt.
Timing of vaccinations, body condition of the sow, preparation of the farrowing area, all have impact on a successful far-rowing outcome and a profitable pork production business.
A free farrowing workshop “Getting a good Result” is to be held on Wednesday, October 23 at the Forbes Rugby Club from 10.30am to around 3.30pm.
The workshop being planned is practi-cal and you will have plenty of opportu-nity to ask questions.
Topics to be covered will include:• Gilt and sow selection and feeding• Preparing indoor and outdoor sows
for a good result• Intervention – when and how• Maximising piglet survival in the first
few daysPresenters are still to be finalised but
will include Dr Alan Sharrock of Lach-lan Valley Veterinary Clinic in Forbes, Dr Bernie Gleeson swine veterinarian with Country Vet and Ms Kim Roberts pig farmer and trainer from Bundawarra Free Range.
Attendees will receive a Certificate of Attendance for inclusion in their training portfolios.
Morning and afternoon teas and lunch will be provided free of charge.
To register or for more information please contact Ms Jayce Morgan, De-velopment Officer NSW DPI phone 02 67631257 or [email protected]
Page 14 – Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 www.porknews.com.au
SUCCESSFUL ani-mal husbandry includes managing hygiene to maintain optimal animal health.
Australian Pump Indus-tries’ Scud blasters have been designed to make shed flush down easy and efficient.
This innovative blaster is a high flow, high pressure cleaner designed specifi-cally for cleaning down sheds and stockyards.
It delivers flows to 21 l/min and an effective working pressure of up to 3400psi when used with a turbo lance.
This extra flow washes away animal excrement from concrete surfaces, ef-fectively flushing the area.
Prime power for the machine is a 13hp Honda GX390 industrial engine with low oil protection as standard equipment.
“We’ve sliced prices on our range of professional high pressure cleaners due to the expansion of the man-ufacturing facility at Castle Hill in NSW,” Hamish Lo-renz, Aussie Pumps Prod-uct Manager said.
“Our bigger production runs mean these machines are leading the marketing in both quality and price,” he said.
The heart of the Scud blaster is a heavy duty “Big Berty” Bertolini tri-plex pump capable of de-veloping pressures of up to 3000psi.
For the Aussie Scud 351 blaster, the pump is ad-justed down to a pump pressure of only 2500psi, to allow the pump to pro-duce extra flow.
This is instrumental for efficient flushing and im-proved hygiene efficiency.
This unbeatable quality Italian pump is backed by a three year manufactur-er’s warranty.
Lorenz said the ma-chine’s combination of high flow and high pres-sure means that the opera-tor has the ability to both efficiently clean and flush at the same time.
The pump is protect-ed by a unique Aussie Safety Protection system that consists of a thermal dump valve that protects the machine from over-
heating and a safety valve. The safety valve protects
both the machine and operator from pressure spikes.
Designed for operation in dirty environments, the big engine drive pressure cleaner has an ergonomic heavy duty galvanised steel trolley.
The frame provides full protection over the engine and pump system.
The centred balance point and large pneumatic tyred wheels makes the
unit easy to manoeuvre.The new Aussie Scud
351 features detergent in-jection as standard equip-ment which allows the op-erator to apply chemical cleaning agents to the job.
This facilitates sanitis-ing and dramatically cuts cleaning times with ma-jor bonuses in animal hy-giene.
For further information please contact Australian Pump Industries or Aus-sie Pump Distributors throughout Australia.
Solid-Liquid Separation SystemsSolid-Liquid Separation Systems
Agricultural and Industrial
Manure Spreaders
• Heavy-duty design and construction• Ideal for all types of manure and compost
• Will also spread lime and gypsum• Empties in less than 4 minutes
• An even spread width up to 24 metres
SPREADER SIZES: 6-40 TONNES
www.axonmachinery.com.auPh 02 9974 2704
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Pork Mince Sales (volume)
Clai
med
usa
ge fo
r bol
ogne
se
Reta
il vo
lum
e sa
les (
tonn
es)
Fresh pork claims usage (% of households)
Sep 3, 11
Four weeks
endingOct 1
, 11
Oct 29, 1
1
Nov 26, 11
Dec 24, 12
Jan 21, 12
Feb 18, 12
Mar 17, 1
2
Apr 14, 1
2
May 12, 12
Jun 9, 1
2
Jul 7
, 12
Aug 4, 12
Sep 1, 12
Sep 29, 12
Nov 11, 12
Dec 1, 12
Dec 29, 12
Jan 26, 13
Feb 23, 13
Mar 23, 1
3
Apr 20, 1
3
May 18, 13
Jun 15, 1
3
Jul 1
3, 13
Aug 10, 13
T. Fresh pork mince sales(tonnes)
Fresh pork mince sales continue to growIN 2009, it was identi-fied that mince was an attractive part of the fresh meat market for the pork industry to target.
Not only can any part of a pig be made into mince, helping to balance carcass sales, mince also typically retails for a higher con-sumer price than roasts, which makes mince sales more appealing to butch-ers and supermarkets.
Mince is also an attrac-tive target, as it is gen-erally an ingredient in a recipe, and therefore a lower risk for consumers to try (a lot of the flavour in spaghetti bolognese for example comes from the other ingredients).
This makes it more like-ly for consumers to give pork a go.
In 2009, APL in collab-oration with Woolworths
and other industry play-ers developed broader re-tail distribution for pork mince, pre-mixed pork and veal mince and heart-smart/five star mince.
This has been replicated across many retail outlets, with extension into a pork and beef combination in Coles.
For most of this year
Australian Pork Limited has taken a single-minded approach to advertising, emphasising mince.
The results so far have been encouraging.
Not only are more con-sumers claiming to use mince in the most used recipe in Australia – spa-ghetti bolognese – but volume sales are actually
reflecting what consum-ers are claiming. See the graph above.
This upward trend is pleasing, particularly as there are outlets promot-ing standard beef mince at $5/kilo at present, more than a third less than stan-dard pork mince.
This growth is helping pork’s share of fresh meat volume sales grow at a sustainable pace while al-so increasing pork prices paid by consumers.
This is not to say that the job on mince is done.
Seven out of 10 consum-ers are open to using it but only three out of 10 say they actually are.
Obviously there is still some way to go, but posi-tive progress is preferable to a lack of progress.
I’ll continue to keep you posted now and again.
Marketing Mattersby PETER HAYDON
General Manager Marketing
Gene Pool Directory
Aussie’s fast flush down – Scud blaster
Source: Nielsen HomeScan and APL consumer attitude tracking.
Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 – Page 15www.porknews.com.au
CM Aqua in your pig feed — you just can’t do better
CALL WENDYNOW & ASK FOR ACM AQUA PACK
Crop Cycle August September October November
US Summer Filling Maturing Harvest Harvest
Australia Winter Heading Maturing Harvest
ASX 30 August
The range for ASX Feed Barley Jan 2014 contract since April 2013 has been between $212.50 and $243.50.
ASX Feed Barley Jan 2014: settled at $235 ($8.50 from the range high and $22.50 from the range low).
ASX Feed Barley Dec 2013 $255 Call option traded at $5.60ASX Feed Barley Dec 2013 $215 Put option traded at $4.60Both the call and put option traded 500 lots (10,000 tonnes)
Assumed hypothetical market view
The general market outlook for global grain prices remains bearish and as such, a grain end user believes there is more downside in the price for feed barley.
The US markets are currently trading higher in the main due to weather related yield downgrades for the US soybean crop. That said, if there is a production surprise due to a prolonged weather market (hot and dry) between now and harvest, there is a possibility prices may trade higher and for Feed Barley to break out of the current trading range.
Strategy If you were worried about a production surprise (downgrade) and a potential outbreak in feed grain prices (to the upside) and purchased the $255 Call option only, it would cost you $5.60 per tonne. As this strategy was for 10,000 tonnes, this would represent $56,000 in option premium paid.
However, by also selling the $215 Put option for $4.60; the net expense of the option strategy would have been reduced to only $1 per tonne.
If the price of Feed Barley rallies beyond $255 before 20 December 2013 (the option expiry date), the $1 investment establishes a guaranteed maximum price for Feed Barley at $256 per tonne. (You effectively paid $1 for the right to exercise the option into a bought futures position in the January 2014 Feed Barley contract at $255.)
If the price of Feed Barley falls below $215, given you sold the Put Option you will effectively be buying Feed Barley at $216 per tonne, $19 below the current market at $235 and $3.50 above the range low since April 2013.
If the price of Feed Barley remains between $215 and $255 when the options expire, the $1 per tonne invested will effectively be lost however the strategy has:• provided you protection from a production calamity should it occur; as well as• time to accumulate barley at lower prices which may well result if the forecasts for global grain and oilseed production are realised.
ASX Grain Options – buy yourself timeSINCE my column in August, there have been a number of develop-ments in the global grain market as well as here in Australia.
Weather concerns for the US soybean crop (hot and dry) has given the market bears something to think about with soybean prices lifting across the board and corn following.
In my last column I dis-cussed the potential ben-efits for piggeries in ap-plying option strategies to manage feed grain price risk.
On August 30 there was a strategy executed using ASX Feed Barley options that warrants further ex-planation and serves as a useful example of the flexibility option con-tracts can provide market participants.
With a futures contract you have two alternatives.
You can either buy the futures contract, or you can sell the futures con-tract.
Either way you are lock-ing in a price on the fu-tures market.
If you do not have cer-tainty concerning your piggery stocking rate and therefore your future feed grain requirements, you may not be comfortable with locking in a price for your feed grain re-quirements using futures or forward contracts.
You may, however, be interested in applying an
option strategy as they can provide businesses like yours with options.
An options contract is very much like an insur-ance contract.
A bought option con-tract is the right, but not the obligation, to either buy or sell the underlying futures contract.
There are two types of options, puts and calls.
A put option is con-cerned with the alterna-tive to “sell futures”.
For example, when you put your pigs on the mar-ket, you are trying to sell them.
When you buy a put op-tion, you are buying the right, but not the obliga-tion to sell the underly-ing futures contract at a certain price.
A call option is con-cerned with the alterna-tive to “buy futures”.
For example, when you call the box office, you are more than likely look-ing to buy tickets to some production.
When you buy a call option, you are buying the right, but not the obliga-tion to buy the underlying futures contract at a cer-tain price.
The case study explains an actual trade that oc-curred on ASX on August 30.
The strategy applied demonstrates the potential power of applying option strategies as part of your hedging activities.Where can I learn more?
Piggeries interested to learn more about hedg-ing and how ASX Grain Futures and Options can be applied to protect busi-ness returns can phone 02 9227 0197, email grainfu [email protected] or visit www.asx.com.au/grainfu tures.
Disclaimer: This article is general and summary infor-mation only. It does not take into account your individual circumstances and to deter-mine whether it is applicable to you, or should you require further information, please consult your licensed finan-cial advisor.
by DOUGAL HUNTERManager
Agricultural Derivatives ASX Limited
Visit our website to view the current edition as a digital flip book or
to download a pdf.
www.porknews.com.au
Page 16 – Australian Pork Newspaper, September 2013 www.porknews.com.au
✓
Pat Mitchell, Broadacres
Supported by Chris Richards & Associates
PROUD OF OUR ANIMAL WELFARE PRACTICES
PROUD OF THE CARE RECEIVED BY OUR PIGS
PROUD TO BE A FAMILY BUILT PIGGERY
Broadacres is a proud family-built and run piggery with multiple generations actively involved in its operation. The team take particular care to ensure that the pigs are well cared for during their time on farm. This is achieved through having dedicated, well trained staff and keeping up with the latest developments in pig care and welfare.
Broadacres have been working with their consulting vets to develop and implement new systems that assist staff to monitor and manage sick pigs to provide best practice health care. This includes a pen-side digital system to record pig health status and treatments and the adoption of new technologies for humane euthanasia.
The use of these technologies not only improves the health and welfare of the pigs, but also means high staff engagement and confidence that they are providing the best possible care.
