Australian pork producers say they are now “competitive” at a world level, matching most EU systems on cost while being close to Canada and USA on reproduction and feed efficiency.
This claim has been issued by Australia’s Pork Cooperative Research Centre (Pork CRC) chief executive, Dr Roger Campbell, in a preview presentation ahead of events planned for South Australian Pig Industry Day on February 26.
“Our own benchmarking results suggest the best Australian producers are a force to be reckoned with,” said Dr Campbell (pictured above).
“Although the Danes and Dutch lead the world in the number of pigs weaned per sow per year, due to the large numbers of pigs born per litter, several Pork CRC benchmarking participants are matching or getting close to these figures without the extreme litter sizes reported by the Danes and Dutch.”
He also drew attention to the impact of his organisation’s research effort in relation to making feed grain “work harder” for producers before they buy or use it.
Pork CRC’s research has resulted in the development of AusScan, a process which uses near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) to scan grains and upload spectra files to AusScan Online, allowing the rapid determination of the in vivo energy values of the grain.
“This breakthrough technology (provided through Aunir UK) significantly improves the cost effectiveness of feed formulations, helping help feed millers, producers and nutritionists optimise their use of AusScan,” said Dr Campbell.