Page 18 - April 2018

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John Riley, JCR Associates International. Mark McLean, Riverhaven Enterprises.
Queensland producers losing $5800 per week
IN mid-March, 125 del- egates attended a confer- ence in Toowoomba ad- dressing ‘Survival Strat- egies to 2020’, organised by the Queensland Pig Consultancy Group with support from the De- partment of Agriculture and Fisheries and Aus- tralian Pork Limited, looking at the challenges facing the industry in
the short term.
The morning session,
introduced by DAF Prin- cipal Extension Officer Sara Willis, dealt with big-picture issues.
John Riley, JCR Associ- ates International, spoke on analysing costs and re- turns of pork production.
He drew heavily on the results achieved by the 9000-sow Toowoomba
focus group over the past three years, using finan- cial and production KPIs.
He showed that while the group had improved herd DW FCR from 4 to 3.6, operating margin had decreased due to rising feed costs and decreasing pig meat price.
He used the March 2018 feed costs and pig meat prices to demonstrate that the average member of the Toowoomba focus group was losing $19/pig sold or $5800/week.
South Australian pork producer Mark McLean discussed how River- haven Enterprises was responding to challenges facing his family busi- ness.
He described how the family business devel- oped and its current in- volvement in the pork and citrus industries.
He suggested the del- egates implement the principle of the circle of influence when address- ing issues within the busi- ness.
The principle being that they concentrate on the core issues over which they have control such as feed wastage, feed pur- chasing, staff training and maximising returns from the marketplace.
Darren Wilson, Wilpak Wholesale Meats, shared with the delegates his view of the pork market.
He addressed reasons for the current low price, namely over supply, and gave his views on the op- timum slaughter weight.
He suggested that pig meat price might drop
further before supply meets demand.
He indicated that sow slaughterings had in- creased in recent weeks through his plant.
Key note speaker Dale Seymour, Commissioner, Anti-Dumping Commis- sion, described the work of his organisation and how it might impact on the pig industry.
He explained how the
commission advises gov- ernment on anti-dumping issues and informed the delegates that the Nation- al Farmers’ Federation represents the farming sector in discussions with the commission.
APL Marketing De- velopment Manager Pe- ter Smith described the marketing and advertising initiatives to increase de-
☛ continued P19
www.primegro.com.au
Results are based on typical progeny growth performance achieved using Primegro Genetics grown under a high health environment and fed using the Rivalea Nutritional Program.
Page 18 – Australian Pork Newspaper, April 2018
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QPCG
Queensland Pig Consultancy Group forum
Darren Wilson, Wilpak Wholesale Meats.
Dale Seymour, Commissioner, Anti-Dumping Commission.
Peter Smith, APL Marketing Development Manager.
Preliminary sale notice of a 400-sow outdoor piggery operation in Tasmania.
DATE TO BE ADVISED.