Page 9 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Pig production seasonality 2022
Chief Operating Officer
RETAIL prices for pork stayed relatively con- stant throughout 2021, whereas beef and lamb retail prices continued to rise, according to sales data obtained by Aus- tralian Pork Limited.
of 2022, the demand mo- mentum is already positive. The production survey from producers suggests the first six months of 2022 will produce less
This improved value for pork combined with ongoing advertising sup- port drove increased pork volume sales in re- tail, while foodservice remained unstable de- pending on the state.
pigs than 2021.
The second six months
What all of this means is that pork continued to build share or find its way into homes for meals.
Beef and lamb markets are in a different phase in the cycle than where pigs are in the pork industry cycle.
This is what APL is plan- ning for – to help create momentum in early 2022 so that when productivity and production volumes increase in the back half
I encourage producers to continue contributing to the production survey as this will enable us to plan more effectively when re- sponding to trends – such as those we see ahead.
From a supply perspec- tive, an increase of 6000 pigs a week would in a normal year have caused a pig price crash.
Third, high beef and lamb prices at farm gate have progressively been passed on to consumers, meaning pork has become significantly better value for money versus beef and lamb.
– if the productivity goals of producers responding to the survey are achieved – are likely to be higher than 2021.
Obviously, this volume of sales growth was wel- comed, given produc- tion for 2021 was about 105,000 progeny pigs a week and production for 2020 was about 99,000 progeny pigs per week.
were short supplied.
And declines in con-
will be lower due to sev- eral producers adjusting their methods to increase productivity.
This marks a difference from normal seasonality where production nor- mally peaks in the middle of the year between mid- May and mid-July.
sumer demand for red meat in Australia were more than offset by ‘herd rebuild’ demand.
We all know there are lags to marketing invest- ment, which is why APL invest today to ensure a benefit is seen down the track.
Despite all the evolution in markets, we go into early 2022 from a healthy position in both retail price and investment.
Many producers called over the past year to ask why beef and lamb prices were so high, yet pork re- mained stable.
This advantage was an- ticipated to drive volume sales and in the latter half of 2021 marketing invest- ment was reduced.
There are many contrib- uting factors for this.
This enabled us to start preparing to focus on a group of consumers we have not targeted before.
But stripped of all com- plexity, we can say three things are true.
First, the producers who contributed to the produc- tion survey each quarter did the industry a favour by making accurate re- turns, providing a future view more consistent with reality than in 2019 or 2020.
The first half of 2022 will see significantly in- creased industry mar- keting investment as the APL marketing teams seek to energise a group of people who are hard to convince – families who want easy-to-cook recipes that guarantee success for weeknight meals – and once convinced, change their minds slowly.
This obviously helped – a problem that can be identi- fied early is easier to avoid than one we don’t know is coming.
This is opportune as the production survey indi- cates production between February and June 2022
The second truth was that both beef and lamb coming out of drought
Raising a stink
TORBEN Soerensen, former WAPPA treasurer and manager of GD Pork in Boscabel Western Australia, has pled not guilty to 29 counts of emissions violations as a result of an alleged faulty waste digester and build-up of effluent on the premises in 2018.
To the point that once construction commenced in 2016, neighbours and passing motorists were complaining to local gov- ernment.
The charges come after complaints from neigh- bours and an investigation by the state’s Department of Water and Environ- mental Regulation into the odour emanating from the farm.
Councillor at that time Kojonup Shire president Ned Radford said local government kept out of it and that it was a matter for the Department of Water and Environmental Regu- lation.
The case was moved to Perth for trial.
Western Australia’s largest pork producer Westpork took the pig- gery over in May 2019 after GD Pork went into administration in No- vember 2018.
One neighbour – whose property is situated 5km from the piggery that has two large ponds to capture pig waste – said, “It was disgusting – your washing smelled like a dirty pig.”
After the takeover in 2019, Westpork upgraded the waste management systems at the piggery to the satisfaction of DWER.
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“You couldn’t sit on the verandah because you could taste it.”
As per the DWER web- site, “Westpork has re- moved the build-up of solid effluent from the southern pond and has improved the operation of the anaerobic digester.”
After an anaerobic di- gester to capture methane from decomposing ma- nure was installed on the farm, the smell became overbearing.
The stench slowly dis- sipated, though it wasn’t overnight and according to one neighbour, “They said it was something that would take a few years, and it has – they didn’t lie.”
“It got disgusting very quickly and went to where it was smelling seven days a week,” one neighbour said.
Australian Pork Newspaper, March 2022 – Page 9
www.porknews.com.au
by PETER HAYDON