Page 6 - APN May 2017

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Planning in rural areas
AS people move further away from the bright lights of the big cities, it’s becoming increas- ingly important to pur- sue sustainable develop- ment and management of rural land.
Governments at all lev- els have made it clear that protection of the environ- ment for the future is as important as economic and community investment.
As a land owner, land manager or property own- er, you need to be aware of both your rights and responsibilities and the capacity of your land to support production, sus- tainably.
There are a number of important questions to ask before investing in land for your piggery.
These include:
1. Is the planned activity for this property suited to the landscape capability?
2. Is there enough water?
3. Does the zoning of the land allow the proposed land use or any other per- mit?
There are a number of checks you can undertake to ensure you don’t run
into trouble later on when you are applying to your local council for your pig- gery permit.
There are rigorous pro- cedures around evaluat- ing land before approval is given to owning and growing pigs.
Here is a ‘starter’ list to think about:
• Ask council about any current development ap- plications for the nearby area;
• Have other develop- ments been approved and just not commenced?;
• Are there any restric- tions on obtaining approv- al to developing certain land, such as having pigs?;
• Check if there are any property vegetation or na- tive vegetation plans that cover your land; and
• If you are preparing an
application, contact coun- cil early in the process to ensure that documentation meets standards and ask for help early.
Across rural landscapes there are productive farm- ing and resource areas.
If land isn’t managed to its capability, it may lead to negative effects on the local environment and therefore, impact neigh- bouring property and the community.
For this reason, healthy and effective relationships with neighbours ensure individual goals can be achieved.
Finally, think about what training you might need to manage your land appropriately.
Many courses are avail- able covering animal husbandry, farm and en- vironmental management, chemical use and property management planning.
If you have any further questions regarding the planning requirements of farming pigs in rural areas, please contact Jo McKiernan on johanne. mckiernan@australian pork.com.au
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Pig Farm Perspective
by Bruce the brainy pig
RECENTLY, multi- ple published papers in the US have raised concerns about a new porcine circovirus and potential vaccine fail- ures.
These papers investi- gated the presence of a newly discovered circo- virus, known as porcine circovirus type 3.
PCV1 and PCV2 have both been previously re- ported in pigs, however PCV1 has never been associated with causing clinical disease.
PCV2 infection is the cause of a whole host of diseases known as circo- virus-associated diseas- es, including respiratory, reproductive, skin, kid- ney, heart and nervous system disorders.
In the first case re- ported, a group of 1000 pigs from a commer- cial piggery in Missouri found 2 percent of ani- mals at one week after weaning with anorexia, weight loss and swollen joints.
Genetic analysis of the virus showed it was a circovirus, however it had less than 50 percent of its genetic material in common with any other circoviruses.
This virus was identi- fied as a new form of
PCV: porcine circovi- rus3.
All PCV3-infected pigs from this farm were found to be be- tween two to three and nine to 10 weeks of age, suggesting that the animals likely were in- fected at a young age or during gestation.
In the second instance, a farm in North Caroli- na had issues with sows suddenly dying in mid- 2015 with skin, heart, lung and kidney lesions similar to those caused by PCV2.
This farm had an in- crease in sow mortality rate of 10.2 percent, and an increase in mummi- fied foetuses of 1.19 per litter.
Autopsy of all pigs with these symptoms found signs consistent with circovirus (PCV2) related abortions, how- ever no PCV2 could be found in any samples submitted.
Given the signs shown by these pigs, techni- cians undertook fur- ther genetic testing of the samples, and again identified a previously unknown species of cir- covirus – PCV3.
What now, then?
Well, the discovery of a new species of cir-
covirus that has been linked to reproductive failure, skin and kidney lesions is concerning, particularly as it seems that a PCV2 vaccina- tion will be unlikely to have any protective ef- fect against the PCV3 strain.
However, it may be that PCV3, similar to PCV2, has actually been causing disease for a longer period (sam- ples of tissues from as far back as 1985 have been shown to have been caused by PCV2 disease).
However, to minimise the risk to the Austral- ian industry, we need to make sure we are under- taking the highest stand- ards in biosecurity.
The Australian pig in- dustry tends to tighten up on biosecurity when a threat is imminent and we last saw this with the pandemic influenza virus.
But what happens the rest of the time?
Are you undertaking the same level of bio- security that you would if we had a disease like PCV3 or PRRS or PED in Australia?
If not, then now might be just the time to start!
Page 6 – Australian Pork Newspaper, May 2017
www.porknews.com.au