Page 3 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Showcasing our new and upcoming industry leaders
☛ from P2
ates of the Australian Pork Industry Leadership Program.
Paul and Robert each spoke about their differ- ing careers working in the Australian pork industry.
Paul provided an ex- tensive background of his career, including his initial involvement in the pig industry in Zim- babwe where he worked on a multi-site, 1000-sow conventional piggery em- ploying 50 piggery staff, where all pigs were bag fed by hand.
In 2001, Paul emigrat- ed to Australia and has worked in a number of piggeries in Western Aus- tralia, Queensland and NSW as well as having a brief stint in a cattle stud in Queensland.
Overall, Paul empha- sised the importance of investing in people to en- able them to thrive and positively, and success- fully, contribute to the Australian pig industry, including the value he has personally obtained from his involvement in the APILP.
Paul quoted one of the Danish farmers whose property he visited in October 2018 during the second workshop of Course 1 APILP that per- tinently highlighted his point: “Having the best technology in the world is meaningless to improving work performance and ef- ficiency, if those using it don’t have the right atti- tude (Claus – Denmark)”.
Robert also focused in on people during his pres- entation with the five Ps – people, people, people, pigs and people.
While the very different career paths of Robert and Paul and what has shaped them was presented to the students, both Robert and Paul stressed the im- portance of having com- mitted, enthusiastic, am- bitious, intuitive, trained and passionate people working with pigs and in the industry to support its future.
On this note, I’d like to congratulate Robert as he takes the reins as the new APSA president!
Honing presentation skills of two APL post- grad students
Each year, APL provides the opportunity for two of our postgraduate students to attend the Red Meat Postgrad Conference sup- ported through Meat and Livestock Australia and the Sheep CRC.
For 2019, Laura Latim- er-Marsh (University of Adelaide) and Weicheng Zhao (University of Mel- bourne) were fortunate to attend this conference held at Q-Station, Manly, NSW from November 4-8.
Laura is undertaking her PhD on the APL-funded project ‘Novel biomark- ers of animal welfare’ to identify biomarkers to be able to measure positive emotional/affective state of the pig.
Measuring circulating cortisol as a marker of effective delivery of a se- www.porknews.com.au
lective serotonin uptake inhibitor to the brain of the pig was assessed in the study that Laura pre- sented at this conference.
Weicheng’s study aimed to determine whether heat stress experienced by gilts can affect placental func- tion.
He reported that cyclical heat stress (eight hours/ day, 28-33C) between 40-60 days of gestation (compared with constant temperature of 20C) may reduce both the capacity for glucose transport in the placenta and result in an adaptive response of pla- centas to compensate for placental insufficiency.
A total of 23 PhD stu- dents from around Aus- tralia attended this meet- ing.
The conference com- prised two days of student presentations formally judged by Prof James Rowe (ex-Sheep CRC CEO), Assoc Prof Caro- line Jacobsen (Murdoch University), Prof Frank Dunshea (University of Melbourne), Dr Jane Weatherley (Meat and Livestock Australia), Dr Doug McNicholl (Meat and Livestock Australia), Dr Daniel Brown (Animal Breeding and Genetics Unit, University of New England) and myself (for the first time).
For me, it was a great opportunity to learn more about research areas be- ing investigated in the red meat sector as well as extend my learning and professional network.
Following the presenta- tions, the students attend- ed professional develop- ment workshops based on adoption methodology to enhance the uptake of re- search and put economic, social and environmental values on the impact of research.
These learnings are al- so directly applicable to APL – it was highlighted as part of the Innovation and R&D Review that we need to get better at how outcomes from industry funded research are more widely known by produc- ers.
Overall, both Laura and Weicheng considered this training fantastic and are very grateful for the op- portunity to participate. Farewell to Ashley Norval
It’s with much regret I inform you all that Ashley Norval leaves APL (and Australia) at the end of November after five years with us to enable her to focus on her Masters and PhD studies she has com- menced through the Uni- versity of Copenhagen, Denmark.
On behalf of APL, thanks so much Ashley for your significant con- tributions during your time at APL.
In particular, your de- velopment, nurturing and management of the indus- try’s leadership program, the APILP, has been fabulous – this has been strongly echoed by all 12 participants to date.
I look forward to keeping in touch and wish you eve-
ry success in your future. For all those who are interested in applying for Course 3 of the APILP, details will become avail-
able in early 2020.
It was great to formally
acknowledge the Course 1 graduates of the APILP and provide a brief op- portunity for Rebecca Wicks, David Lines and Steve Smith, on behalf of Course 2 APILP partici- pants, to present their key learnings to date during the recent Delegates’ Fo- rum in Melbourne.
For further informa- tion on any of the topics discussed, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0423 056 045 or heather. channon@australianpork. com.au
APSA student workshop attendees. Photo: Pat Mitchell
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Australian Pork Newspaper, December 2019 – Page 3