Pig research brings home the bacon

As part of the 2019 ‘Pig Production – Science into Practice’ course at the University of Adelaide’s Roseworthy campus, attendees learnt how early research generated commercial products to provide income to the Pork CRC.

Supported by Pork CRC and Australian Pork Limited, the annual course recently gathered 45 undergraduates and industry participants, including pork producers from across Australia and New Zealand, to learn about pig production, from conception through to processing and the management required in between.

Charles Rikard-Bell, Manager, Commercialisation and Research Impact with Pork CRC, delivered two case studies explaining how early Pork CRC research into near-infrared spectrometry calibrations and sow enrichment blocks had been commercialised with partners Aunir and Ridley Agriproducts to provide an income stream.

He said that AusScan’s unique NIR calibrations provided invaluable information for nutritionists and producers. “The calibrations enable nutritionists to accurately predict the digestible energy of cereal grains to more precisely formulate pig diets and producers now have a measure to help them assess parcels of grain for their digestible energy levels before purchase.”

Reactive lysine calibrations provided nutritionists with an assessment of available lysine which can be destroyed in the by-product due to processing procedures. Developed by Pork CRC, these calibrations are now being used by feed mills, nutritionists and producers around the world.

“AusScan global NIR scan numbers are increasing every year as the value of the calibration is realised,” Rikard-Bell noted.

The sow enrichment block was developed out of Pork CRC Program One research into how nutritional strategies could reduce aggression in group-housed sows. It offers an outlet for the sow to naturally forage and suits a range of housing systems, including fully and partially slatted systems — unlike other forms of enrichment such as straw, which blocks drains. Rikard-Bell explained it minimised harmful behaviour and increased contentment of newly mixed, unfamiliar sows.

“The Ridley Sow Enrichment Block is now successfully marketed in Australia, with USA, Canada and Europe currently being investigated for distribution opportunities, while an international patent is pending,” he said.

Developed out of Pork CRC Program Two, Piglet Buddy is an appetite and feed intake enhancer that helps reduce feed costs, early Pork CRC supported research found. Rikard-Bell said: “Simple weaner diets containing Piglet Buddy performed similarly for growth and feed efficiency to more complex and expensive commercial diets.”

Piglet Buddy is achieving excellent sales in the Korean market, and BEC, which is marketing the product, plans to register it for distribution in Vietnam later this year.

Dr Will van Wettere, the senior lecturer who coordinated and taught the course, said Rikard-Bell’s insights were part of the new content for this year. The course also covered topics such as reproductive physiology, breeding herd management, effluent management, nutrition, health, behaviour and welfare, and included visits to a piggery, abattoir and Al centre, as well as practical demonstrations on Al, heat detection, sample collection and disease diagnosis.

Image: The Ridley Sow Enrichment Block was developed out of Pork CRC Program One research into how nutritional strategies could reduce aggression in group housed sows. Supplied by Pork CRC.