Page 2 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Pig Industry Calendar of Events
2019
OCT 19 - 21 – Leman China Swine Conference, Zhengzhou, China www. vetmed.umn.edu/news-events/leman- china-swine-conference
NOV 13 - 15 –2019 Pig Welfare Symposium, Minneapolis, US www.pork. org/events/pig-welfare-symposium
NOV 17 - 20 – Australasian Pig Science Association Conference, Adelaide, SA www.apsa.asn.au
NOV 27 - 29 – Fatty Pig Conference, Okinawa Prefecture Gender Equality Centre, Okinawa, Japan www. pig333.com/calendar/5th-fatty-pig- conference-2087
DEC 10 - 11 – The Pork Show, Quebec City, Canada www.leporcshow.com
2020
JAN 7-9 – Banff Pork Seminar, Banff, Canada www.banffpork.ca
FEB 12-13 – Missouri Pork Expo,
Missouri, US www.mopork.com/events/ missouri-pork-expo-2
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
Growing a digital future for Australian agriculture
SINCE 2016, Australian Pork Limited has been working with a number of other Rural Research and Development Cor- porations to support digital innovation in the Australian agricultural sector, with a particu- lar focus on agricultural data.
Outcomes of a number of projects have shown that currently, Australian agriculture is in an im- mature state regarding strategy, culture, govern- ance, technology, data analytics and training, which is detrimental to innovation and producer adoption of digital agri- culture.
By increasing the ma- turity and therefore the implementation of digi- tal agriculture across all Australia production sec- tors, it has been estimated the gross value of agri- cultural production could be increased by $20.3 billion (a 25 percent in- crease on 2014-15 levels).
So what does this mean for individual producers? By embracing and uti-
lising agricultural data through digital platforms, producers will be better able to make more in- formed decisions on vari- ous aspects of production within their businesses, improving productivity while reducing inputs.
However, for farmers to be in a better position to adopt digital technol- ogies on-farm, policies, infrastructure, technol- ogy platforms and train- ing programs need to be considered and further developed.
A national forum on ‘Growing a digital future for Australian agricul- ture’ was held on Sep- tember 16 at Parliament House in Canberra.
The purpose of this fo- rum was to get this topic on the agenda of policy and decision-makers not only in agriculture, but also those involved ru- ral and regional develop- ment.
Outcomes from the ‘Growing a digital future for Australian Agricul- ture’ cross-sector project were presented to attend- ees at the forum.
Briefly, these included ‘A digital maturity index and assessment tool to identify areas of digital strength and areas for development for indi- vidual businesses or sec- tors’; and ‘An agricultural workforce digital capa- bility framework to map the digital capabilities of the agricultural work- force’.
These tools may be ap- plied to help people adapt to a rapidly changing technological environ- ment.
The insights from re- search conducted to un- derstand the impact of digital technologies on the future agricultural workforce as well as in- sights from current train- ing providers and learn- ing pathways were used to identify the capabili- ties that will be required by agricultural workers in the future.
A guide ‘Agricultural data rules: best manage-
ment practice’ has also been developed to pro- vide data management practices to support pro- ducers, agribusinesses and associations who col- lect, manage and share their data.
The guide aims to assist farmers with legal, ethi- cal and security concerns around data management and its use.
All these tools are now available on our website and you are en- couraged to utilise both the digital maturity in- dex and assessment tool and the Digital Capabil- ity Framework to assess your current maturity and capability with digital ag- riculture.
Overall, it was recom- mended that an over- arching agricultural data strategy and policy needs to be developed to enable Australian agricultural industries to produce, manage and share high- quality data outputs.
It will be imperative any further work done ensures the privacy of individual producers is protected and trust and confidence in the collec- tion, sharing and use of agricultural data is main- tained.
Gilt management manu- al now available
I am pleased to advise APL has just published a new resource ‘Best prac-
tice gilt management for fertility and longevity’, edited by Dr Rebecca Athorn (Manager, Pro- duction Innovation at APL) and Dr Kate Plush (SunPork Solutions).
This manual is now available for download- ing from australianpork. com.au
The manual provides recommendations to sup- port producers with re- ducing average annual replacement rates and im- proving sow productivity and longevity. Congratulations to two APILP graduates
APL would like to congratulate two gradu- ates from Course 1 of the Australian Pork In- dustry Leadership Pro- gram – Tracy Anderson and Tristan Donaldson – on their success in being voted in as APL delegates for the coming three years.
Both Tracy and Tristan graduated from the in- augural APILP course in January 2019.
Together with her hus- band Peter and their fam- ily, Tracy is an owner/ manager of a 500-sow farrow to finish farm in the South Burnett, Queensland.
Tracy has been in her role as office manager since 2012 and is jointly responsible for all aspects of the business decision- making, including finan- cial and operational.
She is also a director and chair of Riverbend Pork Group, a producer- formed service company that jointly owns pigs, and has recently be- come a director of Pork Queensland Inc.
Tristan, together with his family, manages a 500-sow farrow to fin- ish unit in Deniliquin in
southern NSW.
Tristan has been ac-
tively involved in the Australian pig industry for many years, at both a national level and within state farming organisa- tions.
The APILP program was created to provide a succession program for the Australian pork in- dustry, allowing produc- ers to gain skills and ex- periences to support them in their endeavours to be- come more involved in industry decision-making processes.
We have already seen great success from all Course 1 graduates and look forward to continu- ing to see the positive contribution this program makes to our industry for many years to come.
In a few weeks, Course 2 participants will be heading to Denmark for their 12-day overseas in- dustry immersion work- shop.
They will visit five farms (varying in size and production type), at- tend the 2019 Svine Kon- gressen, tour a Danish Crown processing facil- ity, visit commercial sites and have the opportunity to meet and network with Danish producers, re- searchers and key indus- try contacts.
Applications for Course 3 will open in early 2020. For further informa- tion about the APILP program, please contact Ashley Norval, Manager, Benchmarking and Lead- ership at ashley.norval@
australianpork.com.au For any further infor- mation on the topics presented in this article, please contact me on heather.channon@aus tralianpork.com.au or
0423 056 045.
APL Strategic Plan 2020-2025 Consultation Roadshow
Your input is needed to develop the next Australian Pork Limited (APL) Strategic Plan
This consultation aims to identify the strategic direction for APL over the next 5-10 years and the priorities for our investment of your levies in R&D. The views of producers and our other stakeholders are important to drive our future direction. We want your views on what’s important to you, your business and your industry.
Producer meeting dates and locations
Producer meetings will run from 11am to 5pm, including a working lunch. Networking drinks and casual meal to follow.
• 21 October 2019: Commercial Club, Bunbury, WA
• 22 October 2019: Technology Park, Perth, WA
• 25 October 2019: Tanunda Weintal, Barossa, SA*
• 18 November 2019: Narrandera Ex-Serviceman’s Club, Narrandera NSW
• 19 November 2019: Young Services Club, Young, NSW
• 25 November 2019: Venue TBC, Launceston, TAS
• 26 November 2019: Melbourne Airpor t , Melbourne, VIC
• 28 November 2019: Venue TBC, Echuca, VIC
• 4 December 2019: Burke and Wills Hotel, Toowoomba, QLD
• 5 December 2019: Kingaroy RSL, Kingaroy QLD
* The Pork SA AGM is after this workshop, followed by dinner. For Pork SA AGM information contact Andy Pointon on 0418 848 845 or andypointon.food@iinet.com.au
What do you need to do?
Email apl@australianpork.com.au to RSVP for
the meeting you want to attend including dietary requirements by 7 October (for catering purposes). Then, just turn up and participate – it’s that simple.
Stakeholder meetings and locations
Stakeholder meetings will run from 10am to 3pm. Lunch will be provided.
• 23 October 2019: Technology Park, Perth, WA
• 24 October 2019: Adelaide Royal Coach,
Adelaide, SA
• 20 November 2019: Stamford Plaza, Sydney Airport, Sydney, NS W
• 27 November 2019: Venue TBC, Melbourne, VIC
• 3 December 2019: Novotel, Brisbane Airport,
Brisbane, QLD
Want us to
cover your event?
Get noticed by key pork industry members!
Email editorial@poultrynews.com.au or call 07 3286 1833
Page 2 – Australian Pork Newspaper, October 2019
www.porknews.com.au
by HEATHER CHANNON Research and Innovation General Manager
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