Page 2 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Pig Industry Calendar of Events
2019
MAY 19 - 21 – ONE19 Conference, Lexington, US www.one.alltech.com
JUN 5 - 7 – World Pork Expo, Iowa, US www.worldpork.org
JUN 12-13 – Australian Biosecurity Symposium, Gold Coast, QLD www. biosym.com.au
JUN 23-26 – International Symposium on Emerging and Remerging Pig Diseases, Santiago, Chile www. emerging2019.com/en
AUG 11 - 14 – The International Conference on Boar Semen Preservation, Hunter Valley, NSW www.boarsemen2019.com
AUG 25 - 28 – Asian Pig Veterinary Society Congress, Buscan, South Korea www.apvs2019.com/invit.html
AUG 26- 29 – SafePork Conference, Berlin, Germany www.safepork- conference.com
SEP 21- OCT 1 – Royal Melbourne Show, Melbourne Showgrounds VIC royalshow.com.au
OCT 19 - 21 – Leman China Swine Conference, Zhengzhou, China www. vetmed.umn.edu/news-events/leman- china-swine-conference
NOV 17 - 20 – Australasian Pig Science Association Conference, Adelaide, SA www.apsa.asn.au
How to supply event details: Send all details to Australian Pork Newspaper, PO Box 387, Cleveland, Qld 4163, call 07 3286 1833 fax: 07 3821 2637, email: ben@porknews.com.au
porknews.com.au
07 3286 1833
AS many readers will be aware, Australian Pork Limited engaged Down to Earth Research in late 2018 to conduct a Moni- toring and Evaluation survey to determine the effectiveness of APL’s research and develop- ment outcomes and their delivery.
In order to ensure APL’s R&D products and ser- vices are meeting the needs of our producer stakeholders, we regularly track awareness, adoption rates and stakeholder per- ception of our extension materials.
In previous surveys APL has commissioned, data has been collected via on- line and self-completion surveys.
This resulted in a rela- tively small (and arguably biased) sample that did not accurately represent the Australian pig indus- try’s views on the effec- tiveness of APL’s R&D outcomes.
Consequently, this lat- est survey was completed via computer-assisted tel- ephone interviewing to provide more robust and accurate data to APL.
This is the first time this type of survey has been commissioned by APL R&I.
The data collected was based upon 301 inter- views that were conducted with a random sample of pig producers, with the interview lasting between 10 and 20 minutes.
The sample represented all types of production and all farm sizes.
Excellent co-operation from the producers who were contacted resulted in a response rate of 89 per- cent (of interviews versus refusals).
To put this response rate into context, for the past few years we have had a response rate of around 13 percent from producers.
The APL products and services evaluated were:
• ‘Pigs to Pork’ quarter- ly publication;
• The Producers Guide to Production and Nutri- tion Manual;
• ProHand online train- ing;
• Is it Fit for the Intend- ed Journey Guide;
• Pig Manure and Efflu- ent Re-Use Guidelines; and
• APL Guidelines for Fostering- Getting the One Percenters right.
by HEATHER CHANNON Research and Innovation General Manager
Summary of key findings
• Without prompting, APL’s website and pub- lications were the most commonly nominated source of technical infor- mation, accessed by 76 percent of all respondents and 86 percent of produc- ers with more than 500 sows. In addition to this, half of all respondents stated they source infor- mation through neigh- bours and other produc- ers, pork industry media and/or general internet searches (which APL also contributes to).
• The awareness of at least one of A PL’s prod- ucts and services was widespread (93 percent of all respondents); most commonly ‘Pigs to Pork’, the Manure and Effluent Re-use Guidelines and Is it Fit for the Intended Journey Guide.
• When calculated as a proportion of the total re- spondent sow herd, aware- ness of APL’s Is It Fit for the Intended Journey, ProHand training and the Manure and Effluent Re- Use Guidelines extended to respondents responsible for greater than 90 percent of the total sow herd in Australia.
• On average, 81 percent of respondents accessed at least two of the APL products and services examined in the survey. However, this access var- ied significantly between herd sizes – 95 percent of producers with more than 500 sows accessed three resources on aver- age, whereas 75 percent of producers with small herd sizes typically accessed a single product or service.
• As a result of more widespread usage by larger producers, ‘Pigs to Pork’, Is It Fit for the Intended Journey Guide and/or ProHand train- ing were accessed by re- spondents representing a large proportion of the total sow herd.
Summarising the im- pact of APL products and services
• ‘Pigs to Pork’ is cre- ating awareness of new or different farming ideas for 57 percent of readers, equating to 36 percent of all respondents.
• In total, it was found that APL’s products and services resulted in 64 percent of all respond- ents making or planning practice changes and/or researching further into a particular subject.
• Is It Fit for the In- tended Journey and/or the ProHand course are influ- encing a large proportion of producers with more than 500 sows. As a re- sult, these two resources have the most widespread impact by total sow num- bers.
Producer satisfaction with APL’s products and services
• Each of APL’s prod- ucts and services were ex- amined and rated higher than five points out of a possible 10 by those ac- cessing them.
• In line with having the greatest impact on practice change, ProHand training and Is It Fit for the Intended Journey guide’s usefulness was rated highest by users.
• The true value of these materials to producers was also measured. This was done by multiplying the average impact score by the rating score given by producers who use them, a total out of 10 points was calculated.
• From this, Is It Fit for the Intended Journey and ProHand training achieved the highest index score among producers with more than 500 sows. Conclusions and recom- mendations resulting from the survey
• APL’s products services are a source of technical information for pork producers who access them. However, there is room to further increase producer aware- ness of the availability of specific products and ser- vices, particularly among smaller producers.
• Encouragingly, eight out of 10 respondents have accessed at least one of APL’s products and servic- es, with an average of two being used. Awareness and usage of ‘Pigs to Pork’, Is It Fit for the Intended Journey and ProHand training are the most widespread. The latter two are used widely by those responsible for the majority of the national herd.
• While Pigs to Pork is raising awareness and knowledge of new techni- cal outcomes and ideas among producers, the sur- vey highlighted there is scope to improve this re- sult through consideration of the relevance of some articles included in it (which could be examined in greater detail in future surveys). The provision of this publication in both electronic and hard-copy was viewed positively.
• Is It Fit for the Intend- ed Journey and ProHand have the greatest impact on practice change, re- sulting in their usefulness rated highest by users. Continuing communica- tion with producers to increase their awareness of these materials was recommended to further increase awareness and usage by producers and greater industry.
• The impact of other publications to produc- ers was shown to be less widespread. Despite being considered as sources of valued and relevant infor- mation, both the Fostering Guidelines and Producer Guidelines to Production and Nutrition were found to impact considerably fewer producers, mostly due to lower awareness and readership.
• While a large propor- tion of respondents were aware of the Manure and Effluent Re-Use Guide- lines, its readership was lower than both ‘Pigs to Pork’ and Is It Fit for the Intended Journey. Rea- sons for this may be fur- ther explored in future surveys.
Thanks once again to all those who participated in this survey.
These outcomes provide us with valuable informa- tion to enable us to contin- uously improve our tech- nical resources, developed as outputs from our R&D programs, to support producer decisions and management practices on farm.
For further informa- tion on this survey or the results discussed, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0423 056 045 or heather.channon@austral ianpork.com.au
Producers evaluating our performance

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Page 2 – Australian Pork Newspaper, March 2019 www.porknews.com.au
ASF continues its sinister spread
☛ from P1
May Delegates’ Forum
in Adelaide.
APL will be holding a
producer webinar, pri- marily for smaller pro- ducers, on biosecurity and what producers can expect if a disease in- cursion occurs on March 14.
Details have been circulated in the APL Weekly Communique.
Please contact Dr Lechelle van Breda in
the APL office for more details.
Producers are remind- ed the key to preven- tion is biosecurity, bio- security and more bio- security.
Please review your on- farm biosecurity plans, tighten any possible gaps and prepare in the unfortunate event ASF makes it past the border.
Key areas to consider are outlined on the APL website australianpork.
com.au/industry-focus/ product-integrity/bio security
Consider additional training for your team.
Your veterinarian and Dr Lechelle van Breda in the APL office are good sources of infor- mation.
And finally, if you suspect any disease in- cursion, please phone the Emergence Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.
and