animals

Why humans kill animals – Part 2

ABOVE: Indirect killing occurs when non-target animals die from accidental poisoning associated with use of the drugs, pesticides and herbicides used to protect animals and plants or as bycatch in traps intended for damage-causing animals. Photo: Emerson Begnini Killing animals has been a ubiquitous human behaviour throughout history, yet it is becoming increasingly controversial and…

ghost

Student ghosted following pork detection

ABOVE: Ghost detected more than 2kg of cooked meat, eggs and frangipani flowers that an international student had attempted to bring into Australia. An international student’s visa has been cancelled and an infringement notice of $3756 issued for attempting to bring more than 2kg of cooked meat, eggs and frangipani flowers into Australia. Working with…

price

Spotlight on food price rises

ABOVE: The gap keeps widening between what farmers get paid and the price their produce ends up on supermarket shelves for. As people dig further into their pockets at the checkout, they’ve started looking for answers on why prices keep rising. They’re not the only ones, our political leaders agree it’s worth investigating. So, when…

national

Implementing Australia’s national biosecurity strategy

ABOVE: DAFF first assistant secretary for biosecurity strategy and reform Bronwen Jaggers, with retired department secretary Andrew Metcalfe. The implementation plan to assist in delivery of Australia’s first National Biosecurity Strategy – a collaborative approach to protecting Australia from exotic pests and diseases backed by all government agriculture ministers – has been released. Department of…

ham

Ham restricted in WA schools

ABOVE: Ham considered ‘not healthy’ for children by WA Department of Health. Confusing parents, Western Australia has recently introduced a restriction on ham in school canteens. After a reconfiguration of its system for classifying food and drink in public schools, WA Department of Health now uses a traffic light approach, assigning green, amber or red…

human

Why humans kill animals – Part 1

ABOVE: Several forms of animal killing are a necessary component of our inescapable involvement in a single functioning finite global food web. An unavoidable component of human existence. Killing animals has been a ubiquitous human behaviour throughout history, yet it is becoming increasingly controversial and criticised in some parts of contemporary human society. Over a…

industry

AMIC calls for government action to protect meat industry

ABOVE: Ongoing industrial action has seen significant disruptions across Australia’s sea freight terminals, impacting on Australia’s meat export industry. Photo: Venti Views The Australian Meat Industry Council is calling for action to address the significant impacts being caused by the escalating dispute between DP World and the Maritime Union of Australia. The ongoing industrial action…

antimicrobial

Targeting post-weaning diarrhoea and antimicrobial resistance

ABOVE: Led by Professor Sam Abraham and involving the Feedworks team, a recently completed project investigated novel approaches for reducing antimicrobial resistant and pathogenic gram-negative bacteria in the pig gastrointestinal tract, specifically ETEC. Reducing antimicrobial use for disease control – for example for post-weaning diarrhoea caused by strains of enterotoxigenic escherichia coli – as well…

alltech

Alltech awarded three sustainability medals

ABOVE: Alltech was awarded three EcoVadis sustainability medals. A Leading global animal health and nutrition company, Alltech has been awarded a silver medal from EcoVadis – putting it in the top 25 percent of sustainable companies globally. The EcoVadis silver medal testifies to Alltech’s purpose of ‘Working together for a planet of plenty’ and its…

swine

Delving deeper into swine dysentery

ABOVE: The pork industry has been greatly affected by swine dysentery, a disease that still lacks an effective vaccine. Photo: Kathleen Trigg As you wander down the meat aisle and view the variety of available pork cuts, you’re probably not thinking about the people and the work behind getting the meat to the supermarket. But…