Page 10 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Photo: Pascal Debrunner
“That status relies on our animal health and biosecurity system – from Australian Border Force all the way through to individual farmers – being prepared to not only respond to threats of pests and diseases but to be proactive, innovate and make improvements to protect our industries and ecosystems.”
AHA CEO Kathleen Plowman said: “The Megatrends report high- lights how biosecurity, animal health and the health of our ecosystems are closely intertwined and critically important to Australia’s future.”
Photo: Christina Warner
“Our reputation for producing safe, qual- ity food commands a premium for Austral- ian produce at home and overseas – this is ulti-
“We aim for this report to be a catalyst for ani- mal and crop industries to discuss key issues, develop new strategies, identify transformative opportunities, and trans- late these to sustainable success for the industry into the future.”
Opportunities and challenges facing Aussie livestock industries
A KEY theme of the recent 2020 Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Econom- ics and Sciences Out- look conference was the practical steps we’d need to take as an in- dustry to reach the goal of lifting the value of Australian agricultural production to $100 bil- lion over the next dec- ade.
mately underpinned by our disease-free status,” Ms Leather said.
have a new outlook on current and future chal- lenges, as well as the op- portunities they present.
Biosecurity through the supply chain plays a major role in achieving and protecting agricul- tural production, as was emphasised at ABARES by Queensland cattle producer and 2019 Farm Biosecurity Producer of the Year Melinee Leath- er.
Rapid and transforma- tive changes in the way livestock farmers do business and the way consumers select prod- ucts – driven by increas- ing demand, advances in technology, ecological considerations and cli- mate variability – calls for a long-term, holis- tic approach to animal health and biosecurity policy in order to safe- guard investment in live- stock, and adoption of new technologies.
“When we think about these key trends and sce- narios, and their poten- tial effects on production systems and markets, we must ask what can be done to mitigate risk to our industries.
Central to the indus- try’s success in this changing landscape will be addressing issues of protection against the risk of emerging diseas- es, and assurance of food safety, product integrity, provenance and trace- ability.
Ms Plowman believes sustained co-operative and collaborative efforts will be needed to ensure our livestock industries remain competitive and retain their social licence to operate.
With these issues front of mind, Animal Health Australia commissioned Spiegare Consulting, which compiled a re- port titled Megatrends, Opportunities and Chal- lenges Facing Australian Livestock Industries.
“It’s unlikely any one sector – across livestock, cropping and aquacul- ture – will be able to do this alone.”
The Spiegare report provides insights into global megatrends and explores four possible mega-shock scenarios that could impact future productivity and prof- itability of Australia’s livestock sectors over the next 10 years, through the lenses of animal health and biosecurity.
Ms Leather agreed, adding the key trends outlined in the Mega- trends report as impact- ing on the Australian livestock sector, rein- force the need for collab- oration among industry, government, researchers and community.
With the analysis of these scenarios, Austral- ian livestock industries
“The livestock sec- tor will need to strive for high-level scientific expertise and innova- tion to ensure new and more efficient solutions to biosecurity threats and animal health can be developed and applied as needed,” Ms Leather said.
Page 10 – Australian Pork Newspaper, April 2020
www.porknews.com.au