Page 3 - APN March 2017

Turbulent time in US and global pork markets
I SPENT a week in the US in mid-March to at- tend the Midwest animal science meetings and catch up with some of the key industry players.
Although bitterly cold in Omaha, I warmed to some interesting experimental outcomes and industry trends.
Despite low and variable margins in the past 12 to 24 months and declin- ing domestic demand for pork, producers are ex- panding production and investing in packing (pro- cessing).
The investment in pack- ing is probably encour- aged by the excellent mar- gins made by packers in the past five years when their margins have ranged from $20-$50 per pig pro- cessed.
Trump futures
Producers were buoyed by an unseasonal increase in pig futures since the election of Donald Trump, but these have fallen more recently in response to the increasing number of pigs being produced.
Profitability in 2017 will therefore be questionable, probably unlikely and de- pendent on exports.
Initiatives
An economist who pre- sented at the meeting be- lieves there will be more change to the US industry in the next three years than there has been in the past 20.
With the possible excep- tion of China, most other pork producing countries are in a similar position for 2017 and competition between the major export- ers will be fierce, with China being the prime target.
The country most af- fecting the status quo in the export stakes is Spain, which has grown consid- erably as an exporter in the past five years.
costs have fallen com- pared to 2015 and 2016, with estimates for the eastern states of $370- $390/tonne (compared to $420-$440/tonne in 2015 and 2016).
Costs, however, seem considerably higher in Queensland and I am not sure about Western Aus- tralia.
This is a major relief, but with feed cost higher than might have been an- ticipated, margins in 2017 will depend on how much further pork price might decline and, of course, the type of supply contract producers have.
In the last week of March, the average east-
ern seaboard price, in- cluding sow meat, was around or under $3.15/kg and varied by state.
This would have been a problem in 2016 when feed cost was about $430/ tonne but we will have lower margins in 2017 and could have a problem if price continues to fall – let us hope the latter is not the case.
On trend
I will soon send eve- ryone on my producer database a summary of the more interesting out- comes from the meet- ings, but the general trends obvious during the visit were a continual improvement in repro- duction, more judicious use of antibiotics driven by veterinarians and the continual impact of dis- ease on grower-finisher efficiency.
On average, survival post-weaning is about 86 percent, with most losses associated with porcine reproductive and respira- tory syndrome and swine influenza virus.
We do not want PRRS!
Despite the inefficiency caused by these diseases, COP in 2016 was about $A1.80/kg carcass weight and will likely be lower in 2017.
Semen additives
Brazil investigated the ef- fects on reproduction of adding materials to semen 15 minutes before insemi- nation.
The materials investi- gated were PGF2 alpha, oxytocin and GnRH.
The additives were only included in the first dose of semen administered to sows.
Otherwise, the proce- dure was common across treatments.
AI was intra cervical. The treatments:
1) 87μg of cloprostenol (Planate, Schering-Plough Animal Health; n=158) – source of PGF2 alpha;
2) 5 IU oxytocin (Ovivex, S.P.Veterinaria; n=154);
3) 0.2μg buserelin ac- etate (Receptal, Merck; n=93) – source of GnRH;
4) 5 IU oxytocin + 0.2μg buserelin acetate (n=81); and
5) Control (n=605).
I am not sure what se-
☛ continued P4
The author believes born alive of about 14-14.5 might be achievable in Australia.
All eyes need to be on feed.
Table 1
by DR ROGER CAMPBELL CEO
Treatment
Control
Clopros- tenol
Oxy- tocin
Buser- elin
Oxytocin +buserelin
P
Pregnancy rate (%)
87.9
89.6
91.3
94.0
84.0
NS
Farrowing rate (%)
85.0
88.5
89.3
93.1
82.2
NS
Total born
13.0
14.6
14.2
14.7
14.5
<0.001
Born alive
11.6
13.4
12.9
13.6
13.2
<0.001
In Australia our
feed
Genomic selection – opportunities for the Australian pork industry
A
12-month study in

☛ from P2
Specialist Group meetings, technologies that would positively disrupt the Aus- tralian pork industry and lead to transformational change were discussed.
The RDAC considered that the objectives of a number of strategically important priorities, name- ly Bigger Pigs (Special- ist Group 1), International Market Development (Spe- cialist Group 1), Transfor- mational Technologies (Specialist Group 2) and Antimicrobial Resistance Stewardship (Specialist Group 4), are to be rede- fined to become more dis- ruptive in their approach and scope to better address future industry needs.
To support our endeav- ours to identify transfor- mational (high risk, high reward) projects, the in- volvement of influenc- ers from outside the pork industry to provide input into how new technologi- cal developments and/or innovative approaches are being applied in other sec- tors is being considered as we look to revise APL’s R&D process.
The key RD&E priorities across Specialist Groups 2, 3 and 4 for funding in 2017/18 and management by the R&I division are detailed below.
The timeline for our R&D process for 2017/18 is also provided below.
Calls for tender for R&I projects to address these key priorities will be dis- tributed to research pro- viders on April 10, 2017.
APL’s standard contract agreement will also be dis- tributed (as well as it being available on our website) with the call for tender document this year to en- able research organisations to understand and accept our funding terms and therefore enable the timely execution of project agree- ments between APL and research organisations.
This is to overcome de- lays that continue to be ex- perienced with the signing of agreements by research providers.
Round 3 Rural R&D for profit submissions
Project applications for the Department of Agricul-
ture and Water Resources’ Round 3 Rural R&D for Profit Program were sub- mitted in December 2016.
Outcomes are expected to be announced within the next couple of months.
In Round 3, A PL ex- pressed support in three proposals, as detailed in the table below.
Identifying opportunities for collaboration as well as sources of external fund- ing, to leverage our R&D investment dollars to ad- dress industry priorities, remains a key focus for the R&I team.
For further informa- tion on any of the topics discussed in this article, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0423 056 045 or heather.channon@ australianpork.com.au

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Call for tenders opens
April 10, 2017
Call for tenders closes
May 8, 2017
Tender reviews complete
June 12, 2017
AOP budget endorsed (June board meeting date)
June 22, 2017
Secretariat evaluations complete
June 23, 2017
SG/RDAC chair review complete
June 30, 2017
Successful and modify letters sent
July 10, 2017
Modified proposals resubmitted
July 24, 2017
Modified proposals reviewed by APL Manager
July 31, 2017
Unsuccessful letters sent and successful contracts sent
August 7, 2017
Contract negotiation completed and contracts executed
August 28, 2017
RDAC & SG’s notified of call for tender outcomes and full BCA’s
October 31, 2017
Project
Lead RDC
Collaborators
Total project budget (cash and in kind)
High throughput technology for defining antimicrobial resist- ance status of pork and chick- en meat enterprises leading to a competitive advantage in the global market place
APL
RIRDC Chicken Meat
$2,921,433
Forewarned is forearmed: equipping farmers and agri- cultural value chains to proac- tively manage the impacts of extreme climate events
MLA GRDC, Sugar Re- search Australia,
Cotton RDC, RIRDC, APL, Wine Australia, Dairy Australia
$14,662,435
Wastes to profits: Technol- ogies and business models for the management of wastes in the animal industries
MLA
AMPC, Dairy Australia, APL, MLA Donor Com- pany
$13,953,729
www.porknews.com.au
Australian Pork Newspaper, April 2017 – Page 3