Page 2 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Sustainable protein supplier opportunity
General Manager – Research & Innovation
Pork Industry Calendar of Events
2020
NOV 2-4 – Annual NIAA Antibiotic Symposium, VIRTUAL, www. animalagriculture.org/2020- Antibiotic-Symposium
NOV 3-4 – Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2020, ONLINE www.saskpork.com/pork-industry- symposium
NOV 23-25 – Int. Conference on Antimicrobial Agents in Vet. Med. - VIRTUAL www.aavmconference.com
2021
MAY 4-5– Pan Paci c Pork Expo (PPPE), Gold Coast E: pppe@ australianpork.com.au
MAY 25-26 – RESCHEDULED British Pig and Poultry Fair Warwickshire, UK www.pigandpoultry.org.uk
JUN 9-10 – RESCHEDULED Alberta Pork Congress, Alberta, Canada albertaporkcongress.com
JUN 9-11 – World Pork Expo, Iowa, US www.worldpork.org
AUG tbc – Kingaroy Baconfest www. kingaroybaconfest.com.au
AUG tbc – Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA) Conference www. apsa.asn.au/
How to supply event details: Send all details to Australian Pork Newspaper, PO Box 162, Wynnum, Qld 4178, call 07 3286 1833 or email: ben@collins.media
porknews.com.au
07 3286 1833
AS we enter the last few weeks of spring and looking out of my north- east Victoria window, I have a strong sense of optimism about Aus- tralian farming.
pork and APL ASF li- ason Dr Kirsty Richards; ASF Technical Taskforce chair Ross Cutler and APL ASF liaison Tony Abel, all of whom have worked incredibly hard for our industry over many months.
is now out for industry consultation.
Victoria is finally winding out of lock- down and the rest of the country is beginning to ease restrictions into the hospitality sector, as well as continued growth in the retail sector.
This framework ad- dresses four major pil- lars of sustainability – people, pigs, planet and prosperity.
Tractors, mowers and balers are on the move and tremendous ton- nages of hay and grain are being reported from most parts of the country.
A key theme of the APL Strategic Plan is sustainability.
The benefits of doing so addresses each of the four pillars.
Even taking into ac- count several reduced forecasts of grain in Western Australia and Queensland – due to a drier September in parts of those states – the September national out- look of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences predicts a record Australian wheat harvest of 29 million tonnes, which will rival the huge volumes of the 2016-17 season.
Australian Pork Lim- ited and industry repre- sentatives have recently completed a major prac- tice run of how the pork industry and government departments would re- spond to an ASF out- break, as part of the Op- eration Razorback initia- tive.
It was enlightening as to how comprehensive the simulation was, but also the breadth of in- dustry involvement and government willingness to update the Australian Veterinary Emergency Plan as part of the re- sponse review.
People often interpret a sustainable produc- tion system as one which doesn’t exploit resources and create waste.
Everyone in the in- dustry should see them- selves as having incor- porated these same four pillars in their own farm or supply chain business.
how we value what is Australian, and how we might handle an emerging animal disease response such as ASF.
to the review of the sim- ulated destruction exer- cise on small, medium and large piggeries.
The huge turnaround in the seasonal outlook compared to 12 months ago reminds us that agri- culture exists in a world of changing fortunes.
The Australian pork in- dustry has the potential to be a world leader in terms of sustainability and show how progres- sive and innovative we can be.
I was fortunate to listen
Hats off in particular to APL ASF coordinator Dr Lechelle van Brada; Sun-
APL Climate Friendly Farming program leader Gemma Wyburn has pre- pared the APL Sustaina- bility Framework, which
While this is an impor- tant part of APL’s sus- tainability goals, there is much more to it.
By supporting APL’s Sustainability Frame- work, we will be better placed to maintain pro- ductivity and profit- ability, however markets or seasons might change from year to year.
New directors take the reins at GRDC
* from P1
to learn about strate- gies to improve harvest practices from industry experts,” Minister Lit- tleproud said.
profitability for Aus- tralian grain growers.
“The directors’ role is to deliver the best possible research and development to sup- port Australian grain producers to be prof- itable and succeed in the highly competitive global grain market.
“Research and devel- opment led by GRDC benefits our hard- working grain growers, ensuring that more grain goes in the bin and more money ends up in their pockets.
“For example, through strategic investment led by GRDC and its di- rectors, Australian sci- entists have developed a new tool to better determine when to act against Russian wheat aphid, to reduce harvest losses.”
“I’m confident the new Board members are the right people to lead GRDC through the challenges ahead.
GRDC is hosting a se- ries of half-day forums that focus on harvest loss reduction, harvest weed seed control and preventing harvester fires.
“I congratulate the new directors and look forward to working to- gether to benefit our rural and regional com- munities.
“The work of the GRDC leadership team will enable growers, ad- visers and contractors
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank outgoing direc- tors for the leadership, skills and expertise they brought to GRDC’s op- erations during their ap- pointments.”
Appointed to the GRDC Board is former APL CEO Andrew Spencer.
The barley harvest is tipped to increase to 11 million tonnes and canola to 3 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, global ex- port markets for grain are softening due to an abundance of grain stocks, while world meat protein markets remain strong due to the impacts of African swine fever.
I mention the ABARES outlooks because it pre- sents the Australian pork industry with a won- derful opportunity to be a sustainable protein supplier to Australian consumers and specialist export markets.
The industry has also benefitted in many ways from the COVID-19 pan- demic, albeit in the con- text of the tragic loss of almost 1000 lives, and the pain caused to busi- nesses and the broader economy.
Page 2 – Australian Pork Newspaper, November 2020
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The pandemic has changed the way we work and communicate,
by ROB SMITS
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