Winner of 'High Steaks' competition announced

Western Australian pork farmer Rob Bradley has won the inaugural Steak Your Claim Competition. Australian Pork Limited held the competition to find the best pork loin steak, and three chef judges assessed the entries.
Bradley, his wife Janet and son Philip farm at Kellerberrin took home bragging rights and $10,000 cash with their Berkshire steak. Australian Pork Limited’s General Manager of Marketing, Peter Haydon, made the announcement and said the competition had attracted nearly 50 entries.
“This is the first time we’ve run a competition to find Australia’s best pork loin steak and we were pleased with the response from farmers and the quality of entries,” Haydon said.
“Chefs Colin Fassnidge, Victor Liong and Simon Bestley were tasked with judging the entries as both raw and cooked product. Bradley’s steaks received positive feedback in both these forms,” Haydon continued. “This competition is a celebration of great work being done by Australian pig producers. We found some high quality products that impressed our chef judges. We also found some products that we may be able to leverage abroad.”
Steaks were judged raw for color, muscle to fat ratio and marbling, as well as cooked for aroma, flavor, tenderness, juiciness and texture. The judges said Bradley’s steaks had great color, very good muscle to fat ratio and a good level of marble. The cooked product had a mild aroma, great flavor, was tender, juicy and had a great texture.
Bradley said the steaks came from pure-bred Berkshire pigs, which are bred outdoors. “We entered the competition to expose the Berkshire breed and the wonderful pork it produces,” Bradley said. “We think it was the inherent Berkshire traits which shone through for the judges. We hope the win will drive an increased demand for our quality pork.”
Results
1st RJ & JS Bradley and son, Kellerberrin, Western Australia
2nd Diamond Swamp Pastoral Company, Totness, South Australia
3rd PW and CJ Bradford, Boyup Brook, Western Australia
3rd MC and ML Blenkiron, Keyneton, South Australia
3rd Punjab Piggery, Bangalow, NSW

NFF: Biosecurity bill good for Australia agriculture

biosecurity bill being considered in the Australia Senate needs to become law, as it would help strengthen the country’s agriculture industry, Australia’s National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) says.
The bill, initially proposed in 2014, would strengthen disease control measures to better manage the risk of diseases, such as avian influenza and African swine fever, from entering and spreading in Australia. The biosecurity bill is supported by four other bills, designed to help ensure a smooth transition from the Quarantine Act 1908.
Ron Cullen, Chairman of the NFF Biosecurity Taskforce, appealed to Parliament to pass the bill.
“The enhancement of Australia’s biosecurity capability is critical to ensuring that Australian agriculture remains a significant contributor to the economy and local communities,” Cullen said. “Biosecurity Bill 2014 is one of the most fundamental and significant initiatives in this area for over a hundred years. It’s the biggest development since the commencement of the Quarantine Act 1908, which it will replace.”
“We welcome the concept and the functions of an Inspector-General of Biosecurity, as outlined in the Bill, which recognizes the key underlying principles of the position: independence from government, an appropriate degree of separation from the director-general of biosecurity, transparency, and a firm scientific basis. There should be no further delays in passing this important bill.”
The NFF looks forward to working with the government on further strengthening Australia’s biosecurity through the development of supporting regulations, and will be monitoring the bill’s progress, Cullen added.

PEDv may spread to Australia if trade rules relaxed, group says

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  Andrea Gantz

  Australian Pork Limited fears PED virus could reach the country if trade rules are relaxed for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

  From WATTAgNet:
  Australian Pork Limited (APL) is worried that the health of Australian pigs may be compromised if its government begins to accept fresh pork from the United States under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, which is currently being negotiated.
  Presently, Australia currently imports pork for smallgoods, such as bacon, but fresh pork cuts from the U.S. are not allowed because they can carry diseases such as porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus, which has killed millions of piglets in the U.S. since it was first discovered in the country in 2013.
  APL spokeswoman Deb Kerr said the producer-owned organization that supports and promotes the Australian pork industry is worried that the Australian government is getting pressure from the U.S. to relax its biosecurity protocols.
  "Our pig herd is a closed herd, and if those sorts of diseases got into Australia, then it could absolutely devastate our herd in Australia," she said.
  Kerr said she also feels like Australia’s biosecurity protocols are also being targeted by European countries.
  "These protocols or these rules, if you like, are in place because of science. Science has told us that they are appropriate and that they are robust and we support the Australian government's position on that," said Kerr.

Australian Pork Limited Award presented to PhD student

Megan Verdon, a doctoral student at the University of Melbourne, has been named the recipient of the Australian Pork Limited Award as part of the 2014 Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
Minister for Agriculture Senator Barnaby Joyce presented the award at a gala dinner for the agriculture sector's key annual conference, Outlook, noting the government's investment in research and development. The award presentation was held at the National Convention Centre in Canberra.
Verdon is currently completing her PhD at the University of Melbourne in collaboration with the Animal Welfare Science Centre, where she met her first sow and "fell in love". She is researching animal behavior and well-being, particularly 'Social Strategies of Sows in Groups,' and is also the recipient of an Australian Pork Limited (APL) Postgraduate Research Scholarship.
The grant Verdon received will go towards her project titled Pre-weaning Social Exposure: Effects on Aggression, Injuries and Growth of Weaner and Growing Pigs. Verdon plans to assess housing piglets in group-housed sow lactation systems and its effects on aggression and injuries following mixing at the weaning and growing stages of production, in comparison to piglets raised in a non-group lactation system.
Pigs form groups with a dominance hierarchy social system. Increased levels of aggression are observed when pigs are mixed into groups to establish these dominance ranks. These higher levels of aggression compromise pig welfare by increasing the occurrence fighting, injury and stress, ultimately effecting productivity by reducing growth, feed conversion and meat quality, can also result in increased mortality.
Verdon said "I feel very fortunate to have won this prestigious award and am very grateful to APL for giving me the opportunity to continue doing what I love - working with pigs."
"This award will benefit me both personally and professionally. In addition to enhancing and refining my research skills, this project will allow me to explore the welfare of the young and adolescent pig. This topic has not been as widely researched and it is exciting to be a part of new ground breaking science."
"I relish the opportunity to continue contributing to the differentiation of Australia's pork industry as world leaders in pig welfare."
The Science and Innovation Awards are held annually and are coordinated by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES). The Awards foster greater participation in agriculture, fisheries and forestry through providing grant funding for innovative scientific research projects.

Australian Pork Limited embarks on three-year performance review

Australian Pork Limited (APL) has commissioned ACIL Allen Consulting to undertake an independent review of APL's performance over the past three years. This review is required under the Statutory Funding Agreement (SFA) between APL and the Commonwealth Government.
The intent of this performance review is to assess APL's efficiency and effectiveness, including APL's accountability and transparency with government, levy payers and industry stakeholders. It will also assess APL's responsiveness to the government's research and development priorities, meeting its SFA obligations, implementing its plans, and the wider public good benefits of its activities.
The review is being conducted through June 9.
Stakeholder involvement, particularly APL members and non-member producers, is important to the success of this independent review. ACIL Allen Consulting will be facilitating eight telephone-based focus groups with APL members and non-member producers are invited to participate in. A schedule of telephone focus group sessions can be found on the APL website. Each focus group will last for about an hour and there is no cost to participate.

Ballarat Pig Information Night hosted in Australia

AUSPAC, partner of Norel Animal Health in Australia, sponsored the Ballarat Pig Information Night attended by a group of of swine farmers from the Victoria region. The first speaker was Dr. Roger Campbell, CEO of Australia's Pork Cooperative Research Center (CRC), a well-known leader in pig and pork research and development, who updated the audience on CRC's latest research projects.
Mathieu Cortyl from Norel discussed "pig production worldwide, current situation and challenges ahead." The third speaker was Marcus Dingle, lead grain purchaser at Reid Stockfeeds, who presented possible scenarios for 2014.
John Bourke, president of the VFF Pig Group, concluded the program by discussing recent industry developments that could affect Australian swine producers.

USDA Gain: Breeding sows in Australian pig herd to remain stable in 2014

The number of breeding sows in the Australian pig herd is expected to remain stable in 2014 at 240,000 head, according to the Australia Livestock and Products Annual 2013 USDA Gain report. Pig production is expected to increase marginally from 4.6 million in 2013 to 4.7 million piglets in 2014.
According to industry sources, the Australian pig industry has reached a point of balance between supply and demand. Industry rationalization over the last five to 10 years has forced most of the less efficient pig operators out of the industry. Those that remain have consistent long-term contracts with major retailers or exporters, and have balanced their sow numbers to meet these demands. Grain prices, which account for 60 percent of input costs in pork production, have remained relatively high during 2013 due to the high demand for exports and competition from the cattle feedlot sector.
However, industry reports that the majority of pork producers are returning reasonable profits because of good management.
The Australian industry has committed to a voluntary phase-out of gestation crates by 2017. Research suggests that pig producers can expect a slight reduction in sow productivity immediately following the removal of gestation crates. This reduction is expected to be temporary as pig producers adjust feeding and husbandry practices in the altered system. As the phase-out is voluntary it will occur gradually across the industry thus is not expected to create any significant impact on overall pig production.

Pig slaughter 
Total pig slaughter for 2014 is expected to be marginally higher than 2013 at 4.7 million head for total production of 350,000 tons, up 1.5 percent from 2013.

Pork consumption 
Pork consumption in Australia is relatively stable from year to year although consumption generally increases during December due to the popularity of Christmas ham. Historically pork consumption has then fallen in the first quarter of the year however in 2013 a focused marketing campaign by Australian pork prevented this from occurring.

Australia poultry, pig meat industries get boost in 2011–2012

Australia's poultry and pig meat industries have seen a boost in 2011–2012, helped by higher prices for beef and lamb as well as improving productivity and relatively low feed costs, according to reports.
Per-capita poultry consumption is estimated to reach 45.2 kilograms in 2011–2012. While down on 2010–2011 levels, it’s well above 38 kilograms recorded in 2009–2010 and is expected to continue to grow to 45.5 kilograms in 2012–2013. “We’re seeing poultry farmers increase production to meet this rising demand, despite some farmers experiencing a rise in processing costs and concerns around the potential for grain prices to increase,” said Khan Horne, general manager of agribusiness for the National Australia Bank.
Real consumer prices for poultry have fallen 1.9 percent a year on average over the last decade. “In the medium term we’re likely to see a fall in consumer prices as domestic production increases,” said Horne.
In 2011–2012 per-capita consumption for pig meat is forecast to increase to 24.8 kilograms, slightly down on records but stable and set to incrementally increase, according to the bank. In the past ten years to 2010–2011, imports as a proportion of domestic consumption have grown from 15 percent to 48 percent. “The key challenge facing our pork industry over the years has been the increase in competition from imports, which led to a decline in Australian production,” said Horne.
In 2011 the industry broke its downward trend with Australian pig meat production increasing 1.7 percent, with further increases expected in 2012. “With an increase in demand we’re seeing an increase in production," said Horne. "Australian pig farmers are also now predominantly focused on the fresh pork market, where importers face greater restrictions."
Looking ahead, both industries are expected to maintain their competitiveness within the domestic meat market with a firm medium-term outlook.

Australian sow numbers to rise through 2016

According to the latest projections by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences at its annual outlook conference, the 12 months to March 2012 will see an increase in sow numbers to 307,000, so that slaughters rise to 4.71 million pigs per year and production grows to 338,000 metric tons. The expectations for 2015-2016 are an inventory of 329,000 sows supporting a slaughter total of 4.99 million pigs and 355,000 metric tons of pork produced nationally.
The numbers represent a gradual recovery after decreases over the past 10 years. The number of breeding sows in Australia fell from 356,000 in 2002 to 269,000 in 2010 and pig slaughters fell accordingly, from 5.6 million animals per year to under 4.6 million. The volume of pork produced annually dropped from 407,000 metric tons to 330,000 metric tons.
The driving force for expansion will be relatively high retail prices for the competing meats of beef and lamb, although producers locally also will gain from a projected lowering of feed grain prices that combines with improved productivity to lower their production costs. Imports currently account for about 70% of the processed pig meat market in Australia. ABARES analysts expect around 138,000 metric tons to be imported in 2011-2012 and a further rise to 155,000 metric tons by 2015-2016 as a relatively high exchange rate for the Australian dollar maintains the competitiveness of imports.

Australian pork producers participate in Town Hall Teleforum

Nearly 1,000 Australian pork producers took part in a countrywide Town Hall Teleforum addressing the industry's use of gestation stalls.
The Teleforum, part of the Shaping Our Future initiative, brought 982 producers in contact with industry leaders to discuss consumer perceptions, pork imports, labeling and labor. "Feedback from producers, both from the Teleforum and the extensive round of industry meetings Australia-wide, suggests that it is one of the most comprehensive consultation processes the industry has encountered," said Australian Pork Limited CEO Andrew Spencers.
The ramifications and costs of a voluntary phase-out of gestation stalls were prime topics for debate, particularly how Australian producers could justify the transition costs while gaining ground on imported pork, which makes up the majority of Australia's pork products. "Producers cannot do this on their own," said Spencers. "It requires support, cooperation and involvement with all parties along the supply chain and government to ensure its success."