Page 13 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Antioxidants protect hot hogs from sperm DNA damage
JAMES Cook Univer- sity researchers have developed a diet that yields healthier pig sperm, which should mean healthier em- bryos and larger litter sizes to overcome sum- mer infertility.
Dr Damien Paris, Prof Bruce Gummow and PhD student Dr San- tiago Peña Jr from the Gamete and Embryol- ogy (GAME) Lab at James Cook Univer- sity, recently discovered tropical summer weath- er causes a 16-fold in- crease in DNA damage and reduces concentra- tion of pig sperm.
“This level of sperm DNA damage is known to decrease embryo sur- vival, farrowing (birth) rates and litter sizes in pigs,” Dr Paris said.
“We wanted to devel- op a food supplement to mitigate the damage caused during summer to improve productiv- ity.”
Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world, with tropical countries such as Brazil, Vietnam, The Philippines and Mexico among the top- 10 pork producers.
However, summer in- fertility costs the pig industry millions of dol- lars each year in produc- tivity losses.
The JCU researchers, in collaboration with Assoc Prof Anthony Parker (College of Food, Agricultural & Environ- mental Sciences, Ohio State University), de- veloped a custom-made multi-antioxidant sup- plement that restores the fertility of boars by protecting their sperm DNA from damage in- duced during the tropi- cal summer.
“Antioxidants (such as Vitamin C and E, zinc, selenium and so on) are substances that inhibit oxidation and ultimately cellular and DNA dam- age by neutralising free radicals,” Dr Paris said.
“Some are also known to bolster DNA synthe- sis and packaging in sperm.”
The quality of sperm was compared to sam- ples collected from the same boars during the previous summer with- out antioxidant supple- mentation.
“We found the antioxi- dants more than halved
sperm DNA damage, from 16 percent down to 7 percent after 84 days’ treatment,” Dr Peña said.
“Healthier sperm should mean healthier embryos and larger lit- ter sizes, so this diet has enormous potential for improving pig produc- tion and food security in the tropics.”
The work was sup- ported by an Australia Awards Scholarship awarded to Dr Peña.
It has just been pub- lished and is freely available (along with the antioxidant formu- lation) in the scientific journal PLOS ONE (doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0216143).
Dr Paris said the JCU team is keen to further test the efficacy of the antioxidant therapy on boars during periods of summer infertility, and is seeking collaboration with the pig industry to conduct on-farm field trials.
To support this initia- tive or learn more about this work, contact Dr Paris by email damien. paris@jcu.edu.au or phone 07 4781 6006.
UK pig industry halves antibiotic usage in two years
FIGURES from the United Kingdom show their pig industry has halved antibiotic usage in two years.
UK figures show the pig industry reduced antibi- otic usage by 34 percent over the 2015-16 period and by a further 28 per- cent in 2016-17, bringing the total reduction in two years to more than 50 per- cent.
The news has been welcomed by the UK’s Agriculture and Hor- ticulture Development Board, which has worked closely with the National Pig Association, the Brit- ish Pig Association, Pig Veterinary Society, meat levy bodies Quality Meat Scotland Northern Ireland
Pork and Bacon Forum and Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales, as well as the Responsible Use of Medicines in Ag- riculture Alliance to help cut the use of antibiotics.
AHDB’s senior vet- erinary manager Mandy Nevel said: “This is a great industry effort with all parties fully engaged and determined to dem- onstrate responsible use of antibiotics in pigs.”
It comes just seven months after targets were announced by the Targets Task Force, set up by RU- MA, to reduce antibiotic usage in the pig industry by over 60 percent be- tween 2015 and 2020.
Analysis of the latest data from the UK’s elec-
tronic Medicine Book, which represents 87 per- cent of pigs slaughtered in the UK, states antibi- otic usage on pig farms dropped from 183 units per pig to 131 units per pig within 12 months to the end of 2017.
Mandy Nevel, who’s coming to Australia for a series of talks and work- shops about antimicrobial resistance stewardship in August, says the achieve- ments are the result of high- level collaboration across the industry to deliver on a challenging and rigorous ongoing plan to reduce and refine antibiotic use, while maintaining the health and welfare of pigs.
Mandy recognises the challenges faced by various
industry sector leaders in meeting the agreed reduc- tion targets but says the pig sector is rising to that chal- lenge and making progress every day.
“There is still work to be done to reduce antibiotic use, such as improved col- laboration between farm- ers to tackle endemic dis- ease,” Mandy said.
“The results also show the importance of data.
“Small datasets are in- teresting but can be mis- leading.
“In complex supply chains a complete data set is required so antimicro- bial stewardship plans can be properly developed at both a farm and whole of industry level.”
2019 AgriFutures Horizon Scholarship ‘next gen’ winners announced
THE AgriFutures team is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2019 AgriFutures Horizon Scholarship.
Twelve young people from across Australia are recognised for their talent and commitment to the future of agriculture.
The scholarship pro- vides $10,000 to assist with study and living ex- penses for the final two years of the students’ ag- ricultural-related degree.
On top of the bursary, stu- dents also receive profes- sional development work- shops and work placements to kick-start their career in agriculture, access to in- dustry leaders and opportu- nities to network and gain knowledge at a range of industry events.
2019 AgriFutures Horizon Scholarship recipients
• Anna Drake, Beecroft NSW, University of Syd- ney, sponsor GRDC.
• Emma Rice, Parkes NSW, University of New England, sponsor GRDC.
• Kellie Maybery-Re- upert, Oakleigh VIC, Monash University,
sponsor GRDC.
• Matthew Nevison,
Gordon NSW, University of Sydney, sponsor Agri- Futures Australia.
• Montana Coombes, Melba ACT, Australian National University, spon- sor AgriFutures Australia.
• Natasha Reading, Wal- laloo East VIC, University of Melbourne, sponsor MLA.
• Sacha Pulsford, Hack- ett ACT, Australian Na- tional University, sponsor AgriFutures Australia.
• Sophia Thatcher, Ar- midale NSW, University of New England, sponsor AgriFutures Australia.
• Tom Grills, Barwon Heads VIC, University of Melbourne, sponsor GRDC.
• William Foster, Ross TAS, University of Mel- bourne, sponsor GRDC.
• Harrison Goy, Harka- way VIC, University of Melbourne, sponsor Hort Innovation.
• Mikaela Tilse, Gundy NSW, University of Syd- ney, sponsor AgriFutures Australia.
AgriFutures Australia managing director John
Harvey congratulated the 12 students on their success and welcomed them to the AgriFutures Horizon Scholarship pro- gram.
“We are thrilled to wel- come the 2019 winners, selected from a talented pool of more than 130 ap- plicants,” Mr Harvey said.
“We have hand-picked these young people be- cause of their vision and commitment to the ever- changing world of agri- culture.”
Mr Harvey said the Scholarship program gives students extraordi- nary opportunities.
“We pair them with in- dustry sponsors which gives the students unprec- edented access to the de- cision makers in agricul- ture,” he said.
“They will learn life skills such as relationship building, networking and the power of collaboration in our tech-savvy, start-up world.”
Mr Harvey also paid tribute to new and return- ing Horizon sponsors and acknowledged their sig- nificant contribution to
the program, particularly in offering valuable ex- posure to the agricultural sector.
“Our sponsors provide the scholarship winners with hands-on work place- ments so they can be part of the innovations taking place in global markets,” Mr Harvey said.
The successful recipi- ents will begin their jour- ney by attending a four- day workshop in July fo- cused on leadership and personal development.
This year’s workshop will be in Adelaide and features special guest speakers, industry ex- perts, field trips and the opportunity to network, meet sponsors and discuss innovations and chal- lenges in the agricultural sector.
For more information, visit agrifutures.com.au/ horizon
Antimicrobial stewardship: a mindset change
☛ from P12
phase where relapse into old behaviours should be prevented.
The stimulus to change is driven by a person’s beliefs.
These are related to attitude, perceived nor- mal behaviours of oth- ers and one’s abilities.
The more producers and vets believe in their abilities, and experience positive outcomes in controlling animal dis- eases with less or even no use of antimicro- bials, the higher their intention becomes to
actively engage in prac- tices that reduce antimi- crobial use.
The same applies in Australia.
The message here is to make the changes bit by bit.
For Australian pro- ducers and their vets, the starting point is to create a farm envi- ronment that presents healthy animals.
The Dutch have shown a combination of policy – setting strict reduction targets for an- timicrobial use – and supportive measures such as education and
peer pressure can have a huge effect on the level of antimicrobial use in farm animals.
Benchmarking of an- timicrobial prescribing and use enables farm- ers and veterinarians to compare their use with other farmers and vets.
In both Denmark and the Netherlands, this has shown to be very effective.
It opens discussions between farmers and vets around the level of antimicrobial use and specific antimicrobial usepractices.
Ross Cutler
www.porknews.com.au
Australian Pork Newspaper, June 2019 – Page 13