Australian Pork Newspaper

Phone: 07 4697 3344 • Fax 07 4697 3532
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Vol 23. No. 12 December 2019 Australian Pork Newspaper PO Box 387 Cleveland 4163 Phone (07) 3286 1833 Fax (07) 3821 2637 Email ben@porknews.com.au
The greatest gift is an Aussie Christmas ham
RISING prices for Australian pork are receiving considerable media coverage, with warnings that consum- ers will need to budget when buying Austral- ian ham for festive sea- son gatherings.
Higher retail prices for fresh Australian pork products, as much as 40 percent in the past six months, have seen comparable increases in farmgate returns for producers.
Prices for Australian pigs have already in- creased from an average of $2.50/kg 12 months ago to be nudging $4/kg more recently.
Farmgate returns of $2.50/kg, especially when factoring in high feed grain prices, were well below the cost of production.
Now, more sustain- able prices are provid- ing some much-needed relief for local produc- ers who have endured squeezed margins for too long.
The global spread of African swine fever, which is driving up pork prices, has given us the opportunity to reiterate to consumers the im- portance of choosing healthy, disease-free Australian pork.
On November 20, Australian Pork Lim- ited launched a new campaign to promote Australian ham in the lead-up to Christmas, with 30 influential voic- es and members of the pork industry coming together in Sydney for a special festive lunch.
Chef and food person- ality Manu Feildel at- tended the event and said it was an opportunity to
Point of View
by MARGO ANDRAE CEO
hear direct from produc- ers how imported pork affects farmers’ liveli- hoods, but also celebrate the Australian industry.
As we’re saying, the greatest gift an Austral- ian pig farmer can re- ceive this Christmas is for Australian families to serve up Australian- grown ham on Decem- ber 25.
The ASF situation has also provided the mo- mentum for industry to achieve significant bio- security improvements.
One particularly im- portant outcome was confirmation by the Federal Government in early November that a National Feral Pig Co- ordinator would be es- tablished.
APL has led calls for a nationally co-ordinated approach to feral pig management, especially given feral herds are potential transmitters of ASF.
The new co-ordinator will be based with APL, giving our organisation the chance to play a piv- otal role in managing feral pig populations and the risk they pose to our domestic herd.
APL is also looking at opportunities arising from the unprecedent- ed disruption in global
meat markets caused by ASF.
As China offsets de- clines in its domestic production by absorb- ing more of the global supply of pigmeat, there are significant export opportunities for Aus- tralian product.
The chance to increase our exports to existing markets and gain access to new markets is one we must capitalise on.
The 2019 APL Del- egates’ Forum and An- nual Conference, held in Melbourne on Novem- ber 13 and 14, provided a timely and highly in- teractive setting to share updates regarding ASF and industry’s crisis and recovery plan, as well as market analysis cover- ing pig prices and feed costs.
Federal Agriculture Minister Bridget Mc- Kenzie participated in the forum via an excel- lent video Q&A session, while exciting develop- ments in research, in- novation and technol- ogy showed the future is indeed bright for our industry.
Guest speakers in- cluded Dr Narelle Clegg (Department of Agri- culture), Sharon Starick (AHA and APIQ Chair), Dr Sam Allen (AHA)
and Dr Sarah Britton (NSW DPI).
A PL’s recently con- firmed Chair Andrew Baxter led discussion on APL’s Strategic Plan consultation.
Producer feedback from a preview of APL’s new television adver- tisements was also very positive, with the roll- out of the video cam- paign to commence in early February.
At the AGM, Edwina Beveridge was re-elected as an APL director and Mark McLean was elect- ed as a new director.
We acknowledge re- tiring directors Kathy Grigg and Andrew Johnson for their contri- butions to the industry.
Thanks also to dele- gates and members who attended and ensured the forum was a genuine success.
Between the Del- egates’ Forum and the Australasian Pig Sci- ence Association Con- ference in Adelaide on November 17-20, I gained extremely valu- able face-to-face insight and encouragement at an informal meeting with South Australian pork producers at Tinti- nara, organised by An- drewJohnson.
Direct feedback from those working inside the farmgate is always very gratefully received.
The experience talk- ing to producers from the Murray, Mallee and Upper South East re- gions of South Australia confirmed for me the resilience of Australia’s pork producers and the significant value our $5.3 billion industry adds to rural communi- ties.
Dr R. Dean Boyd (left) kicked off APSA 2019 with the AC Dunkin Memorial Lecture on ‘Innovation through research in the North American pork industry’, which was chaired by 2019 APSA president Stuart Wilkinson (right).
APSAlutely awesome
conference in Adelaide
THE 2019 Australasian Of course, the social otherworldly dinner com-
Pig Science Association Conference was held at the Hilton Adelaide from November 17-20 and saw more than 280 attendees treated to a diverse range of topics presented by in- vited speakers both from Australia and around the world.
In this Chinese Year of the Pig and despite the hor- rors of African swine fever elsewhere in the world, outgoing APSA president Stuart Wilkinson urged all those in attendance to make the most of the four- day event by networking and learning more about pig nutrition, reproduction, genetics and many other topics.
The Australian pork in- dustry is full of passion- ate people with a common interest of constantly striv- ing for improvement in pig production and welfare, and this was evident after four days and 12 sessions of presentations.
The question and answer sessions following each presentation showcased the immense knowledge of both presenters and audience members, with many interesting ideas and follow-up research stud- ies generated through this format.
functions interspersed throughout the conference play a key role in allowing attendees a chance to let their hair down and con- nect with new industry contacts from around the globe.
The Monday night of- ficial conference dinner held at the Adelaide Oval’s William Margery Room saw those from across the pig industry come to- gether dressed to the nines and ready to enjoy a great night of excellent pork, music and presentation of the Batterham Memorial Award to Rivalea Austral- ia research scientist Dr Fan Liu.
The conference dinner also saw the introduction of a new APSA committee in the lead-up to the 2021 conference.
Outgoing president Stu- art Wilkinson thanked the 2019 committee and welcomed the 2021 cohort comprising Robert Hewitt, Frank Dunshea, Rebecca Athorn, Emalyn Loudon, John Pluske, Jessica Craig, Taya Clarke and Kate Plush.
Tuesday’s networking function at Argentin- ian restaurant La Boca also brought out the best of those present over an
prising succulent cuts of pork, lamb and beef – truly special and genuinely deli- cious.
APSA keynote speakers for 2019 covered a wide variety of disciplines, with Dr R. Dean Boyd kick- ing off proceedings on the Sunday with the AC Dunkin Memorial Lec- ture focusing on ‘Innova- tion through research in the North American pork industry’.
Dr Boyd and indeed all the keynote speakers max- imised their time present- ing in the Hilton Grand Ballroom and captivated those listening with ex- amples and discussion of their novel research find- ings, which in some cases were part of world-leading research not seen before by many industry partici- pants.
Of serious interest to many was Tuesday morn- ing’s symposium focusing on technology and inno- vation.
The three presenters piqued the interest of at- tendees and their presenta- tions opened the minds of a large number of listeners to the plethora of benefits able to be capitalised on through effective adoption
☛ continued P18
Merry Christmas
to all our valued customers from the Stockyard Industries team
Stockyard Industries 54 King Street,
Clifton QLD 4361
07 4697 3344
Steven Clohesy Cameron Ross Joe Oliveira www.stockyardindustries.com
www.porknews.com.au