Australian Pork Newspaper

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Vol 23. No. 3 March 2019 Australian Pork Newspaper PO Box 387 Cleveland 4163 Phone (07) 3286 1833 Fax (07) 3821 2637 Email ben@porknews.com.au
The Ridley Sow Enrichment Block was developed out of Pork CRC Program One research into how nutritional strategies could reduce aggression in group housed sows.
Commercialised Pork CRC research delivered
ASF continues its sinister spread
IT seems the threat to the Australian pork industry from African swine fever, now endemic in China, will not be abating any time soon.
It began with the introduc- tion of domestic pigs into Africa in the early 1900s.
While native African spe- cies, like the warthog, ap- pear unaffected by the virus, domestic pigs are very sus- ceptible to the ancient hardy virus.
During the mid-1900s, cases were reported in some European, Central and South American countries but the virus was brought under control and largely eradi- cated.
It is considered these in- cursions as well as the more recent incursions in Europe in 2007 were the result of swill feeding infected meat to domestic pigs and/or wild boars.
Roll forward to 2019 and the spread of African swine fever is like a pandemic, showing no signs of stopping any time soon.
EU countries which are positive to ASF continue to be challenged to control the disease, with the wild boar detections in Belgium re- cently expanding beyond the control zone.
This incursion is most likely to have resulted from hunters relocating ASF-pos- itive wild boar from eastern Europe to Belgium for hunt- ing, with two individuals re- cently arrested.
Interestingly, Russia’s vet- erinary service is predicting France and Germany will have ASF during 2019 be- cause the disease is spread- ing around 350km per year.
A Polish swine disease specialist recently observed that ASF is now endemic in Europe due to its presence in wild boars.
In the meantime, those countries in the EU that are ASF-free are working hard to keep the disease out – building fences and/or
Point of View
shooting wild boars.
In 2018, ASF spread to
China, Mongolia and in the past two weeks was detected in pigs in Vietnam.
There have been over 100 incursions in China, includ- ing wild boars, affecting most of China’s provinces and the culling of a million pigs.
This figure is very likely under-reported.
Most producers are acutely interested in how the virus is being spread.
The spread is a result of infected pork being sold, swill feeding (particularly by small holders), both in- advertent and deliberate feeding of infected pork to wild pigs, translocation of infected wild pigs to new regions and the movement of wild pigs, especially across Russia and the EU.
It has been estimated that 62 percent of the first 21 ASF incursions in China were a result of swill feed- ing.
A study assessing 68 out- breaks revealed the major causes of the virus’s spread are 46 percent by vehicles and workers without disin- fection, 34 percent by swill feeding and 19 percent by the transport of live pigs and pork products across re- gions.
Now to Australia – in this month’s Australian Pork Newspaper the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has provided a summary of the key actions
that have been taken at the border.
While imports of pork are regulated, the unregulated pathways remain the biggest risks, i.e. incoming mail and international passenger lug- gage and personal effects, along with practices such as swill feeding, including feeding pet food to pigs, and some imported feed ingre- dients.
The detection of DNA fragments of ASF and foot and mouth disease in pork products that were seized or surrendered at the border be- tween December 2018 and February 2019 has clearly demonstrated this risk.
The Federal Minister for Agriculture and Water Re- sources David Littleproud has clearly outlined his ex- pectations of higher and tougher application of fines, and is investigating deporta- tion as an option.
Australian Pork Limited clearly supports these op- tions, however A PL is ad- vocating a much tougher stance, including deportation on the first offence.
APL is working with gov- ernments and other key stakeholders to hold an ASF summit in early May.
The objectives are to share information and activities re- lating to ASF, and to identify any remaining gaps and how these should be actioned.
APL will report the out- comes of the summit at the
☛ continued P2
by DEB KERR General Manager Policy
ADDRESSING the 2019 ‘Pig Production – Science into Practice’ course at the Univer- sity of Adelaide’s Roseworthy campus, Pork CRC Commer- cialisation and Research Im- pact manager Charles Rik- ard-Bell explained how early Pork CRC research generated commercial products to pro- vide income to Pork CRC going forward.
Dr Rikard-Bell delivered two case studies to the audience of 45 undergraduates and indus- try participants, including pork producers from across Austral- ia and New Zealand.
He explained how early Pork CRC research into near infra- red spectrometry calibrations and sow enrichment blocks had been commercialised with partners Aunir and Ridley Ag- riproducts to provide an in- come stream to Pork CRC.
Dr Rikard-Bell said AusS- can’s unique NIR calibrations provided invaluable informa-
tion for nutritionists and pro- ducers.
“The calibrations enable nu- tritionists to accurately predict the digestible energy of cereal grains to more precisely for- mulate pig diets and producers now have a measure to help them assess parcels of grain for their digestible energy levels before purchase,” he said.
Reactive lysine calibrations provided nutritionists with an assessment of available lysine, which can be destroyed in the by-product due to processing procedures.
These calibrations, developed by Pork CRC, are now being used by feed mills, nutritionists and producers around the world.
“AusScan global NIR scan numbers are increasing every year as the value of the cali- bration is realised,” Dr Rikard- Bell said.
The sow enrichment block was developed out of Pork CRC Program One research
into how nutritional strategies could reduce aggression in group housed sows.
“The enrichment block changed the behaviour of new- ly mixed, unfamiliar sows by minimising harmful behaviour and increasing contentment,” Dr Rikard-Bell said.
The sow enrichment block offers an outlet for the sow to naturally forage and suits a range of housing systems, including fully and partially slatted systems, unlike other forms of enrichment such as straw, which blocks drains.
“The Ridley Sow Enrichment Block is now successfully mar- keted in Australia, with the US, Canada and Europe currently being investigated for distri- bution opportunities, while an international patent is pend- ing,” Dr Rikard-Bell said.
Piglet Buddy, an appetite and feed intake enhancer devel- oped out of Pork CRC Program Two and marketed by BEC, is achieving excellent sales in the Korean market.
BEC will register Piglet Bud- dy for distribution in Vietnam later this year.
According to Dr Rikard-Bell, early Pork CRC-supported re- search indicated adding Piglet Buddy reduced feed costs.
“Simple weaner diets con- taining Piglet Buddy per- formed similarly for growth and feed efficiency to more complex and expensive com- mercial diets,” he said.
www.porkcrc.com.au
Piglet Buddy is an appetite and feed intake enhancer developed out of Pork CRC Program Two and now marketed by BEC.
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