Page 5 - Australian Pork Newspaper

African swine fever ‘light bulb’ moments
Online saleyard not a viable solution for pig sales
THE reduction in the number of saleyards in recent years prompted Australian Pork Limit- ed to look at alternative sales channels that may provide viable options for producers.
APL is concerned about the growing num- ber of unregulated on- line sales and sought the services of AuctionsPlus to investigate the possi- bility of using regulated online auctions as one alternative.
The investigation in- tended to:
• Examine the tech- nical feasibility of the AuctionsPlus platform for selling pigs;
• Examine the interest in the market for using AuctionsPlus as an al- ternative selling mech- anism;
• Conduct six pilot sales in Victoria to prove both the technical feasi- bility and market inter- est of the platform; and
• Provide a report in- cluding an assessment of the trial and any recom- mendations.
Following the conclu- sion of the trial, APL would be in an informed position about whether there was feasibility in the use of a regulated online sales platform that would reduce bio- security issues and pro-
vide an alternative sales option for producers.
The investigation un- fortunately found a lack of producer and buyer support for an online auction facility.
This was primarily due to the unique character- istics of pig trading, the decreasing number of commercial producers seeking auctions and the general unsuitability of intensive, meat-produc- ing livestock to a digital marketplace.
AuctionsPlus also de- cided conducting pilot auctions would not yield any further information about producer or buyer
intentions than the stake- holder engagement found, and the auctions therefore did not take place.
Moreover, Auctions- Plus was not able to find livestock agents or as- sessors who were quali- fied and interested to op- erate the pilot auctions.
The report summary of the trial is available on the APL website at aus tralianpork.com.au/latest- news/auctionsplus-on line-saleyard-pilot-report
For any further informa- tion about the trial, please contact Alister Oulton on 02 6270 8832 or alister. oulton@australianpork. com.au
“I HAVE a 500-sow pig- gery and have noticed my pigs are looking a bit ill, running the odd high fever and off their feed. While this is a bit unusual, it could be any one of a number of en- demic diseases. I have also noticed a bit of a spike in mortality rates across my different pig groups. I’ve spoken to my vet and now have government vets on site taking samples for test- ing. While we are wait- ing on these, they have quarantined my farm as they are concerned this is African swine fever and imposed strict con- trols for the entire im- mediate area.”
This scenario could be faced by any pig producer should an exotic disease incursion occur in Aus- tralia.
At a couple of recent pro- ducer forums, these issues suddenly and starkly be- came a light bulb moment.
Producers expressed concern about how they might manage their busi- ness and normal family activities if their farm was quarantined – and distress that they may have to eu- thanise all their pigs.
In an exotic disease out- break, there are clearly competing objectives be- tween containing, control- ling and stamping out the disease – and that of nor- mal business operations particularly for apparently disease-free farms.
Governments will im- pose stricter conditions on those farms in the im- mediate vicinity of an in- fected farm (called a re- stricted zone), with some lesser conditions on the area around these (called a control zone).
This may mean no pigs, equipment, vehicles, trucks or people will be allowed to leave or en- ter the infected or suspect farms or these manage- ment zones.
As in the example above, if tests confirmed the ex- otic disease, then govern- ments are highly likely to impose at least a 72-hour pig and product standstill – and this may extend from restricted and con- trol zones to the entire state or multiple states.
For the eastern seaboard, given the movement of pigs between states for slaughter, this is likely to extend across a number of states.
This timeframe is likely to be the minimum re- quired to enable the au- thorities to get a handle on the extent of the disease’s spread, and to trace all potentially infected pigs.
Producers should expect this could be extended for longer timeframes.
Many producers might ask whether this is all needed.
The staggering statistic is that 46 percent of the first 68 ASF incursions in China were the result of contaminated vehicles and workers, 34 percent by swill feeding and 19 percent by the transport of infected pigs and pig products.
To ensure your business is prepared, it is critical every producer has a busi- ness continuity plan that www.porknews.com.au
Point of View
describes how you will manage your business in such events.
For example, if you had to slaughter all your herd, do you have a suitable lo- cation and the capacity to bury, compost or burn the carcasses as directed by government officials managing the disease event?
Have you thought about organising a pre-approved route to slaughter permit from your state depart- ment of agriculture or equivalent?
If you are located out- side the immediate man- agement zones, this will be required.
Having this route pre- approved will save time during a standstill (re- member that government employees will be dealing with the disease, tracing pigs and so on and these permits will be a lower priority).
Have you thought about how you might receive your next shipment of feed or veterinary sup- plies, or even semen?
If you had to hold all your pigs on farm for three, seven, 10 or 14 days, how would you manage this?
Do you have the ability to put up temporary out- side fencing, shelter and watering points, or are you able to order and have delivered a maintenance diet?
And have you thought about managing trucks and other biosecurity on farm?
That is, if you use your own truck, how will you decontaminate it on re- turn from the abattoir or saleyards.
If you use a transporter, what have they done to ensure the trucks brought to your farm have been decontaminated?
What will you do to manage contracts for pigs you supply, and the impact to regular income streams toyourbusiness?
And how will you pay your suppliers?
All the above are impor- tant considerations.
Quite simply, a business continuity plan requires each business to assess what could go wrong, what is the worst-case scenario (identify), what are the impacts on your business (assess) and what will you do to manage these impacts (control).
Some of the components may include identifying the critical business func- tions and services such as goods and services, op- erations, equipment and personnel vital to the con- tinued operation of your business and services and goods provided by exter- nal suppliers.
More information on surviving an emergency animal disease outbreak can be found at the Farm Biosecurity Website (farmbiosecurity.com.au/ news/surviving-an-emer gency-disease-outbreak).
by DEB KERR General Manager Policy
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Australian Pork Newspaper, June 2019 – Page 5