by Deanna Lush  Stock Journal – December 18, 2014

Support from pig industry leaders, producers and agribusiness is teaching SA students about rearing pigs and the industry’s role in supplying a quality product to the food chain.

There are close to 20 schools running pigs, from weaning through to slaughter weight, as part of their agricultural studies.

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Most producers are aware of their obligations to complete National Vendor Declarations (NVDs) when moving pigs from farms to sale yards and abattoirs, using either electronically using Australian Pork Limited’s (APL) PigPass or ordering books by phoning into the PigPass dedicated phone service.

There are several reasons for this but the most important is to ensure that pigs can be traced in the event of a disease outbreak. When sale yards and abattoirs receive the NVD, this information is uploaded to the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database, i.e. those businesses upload the movement information directly to NLIS. This allows jurisdictions to trace animals (cattle, sheep, pigs and goats) reliably and in a timely manner if a disease outbreak occurs, in an effort to contain the outbreak. Think how the PEDv in the USA has spread rapidly and affected large numbers of pigs across that country. Inadequate reporting and biosecurity failures lie at the heart of this rapid spread. [Read more…]

by Deanna Lush  Stock Journal – September 25, 2014

New $1 million facility at Sabor, Clare, has been operating for 12 months, housing an extra 200 boars and making it the largest pig AI centre in Australia.

Tucked away in the hills of the Clare valley, it is the only AI centre in the state and is the largest in Australia.
Sabor chairman Barry Lloyd says the facility reflects the progressive nature of the industry and it’s adoption of technology to maintain best practice.

To read entire article, click here.