Full article available via AgriFutures GrowAG below.
News and Media
APRIL News April 2022
Welcome to the first edition of APRIL News for 2022.
First, I would like to welcome a new staff member to APRIL and to the industry, Sophie Ward, who has joined us under an Early Career Scientist Fellowship working on aspects of the CRC-Project (CRC-P), Eliminating pig tail removal to improve welfare and industry sustainability. This is a 3-year project supported by the Australian Government with SunPork Pty Ltd. as the Lead Applicant, and other partners being APRIL, Australian Pork Limited, PIC Australasia Pty Ltd., Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd., RSPCA Australia, The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland, and the University of New England.
An introduction to Sophie can be found later in the Newsletter.
I would like to say thank you to those participants who joined in and contributed to the consultation workshops just before Christmas last year, for the new APRIL Strategic Plan, 2022-2025. There was excellent feedback and comments and aspects of that were incorporated into the (draft) Strategic Plan, 2022-2025, that was presented to the Board for consideration at its meeting on 24 February, 2022. A revised version of the (draft) Strategic Plan will go back to the Board for its 28 April meeting.
A key component of the current Strategic Plan, 2019-2022, were the two Transformational Projects, Enhanced antimicrobial stewardship in the Australian pork industry through targeted reduction of in-feed medications without adverse health consequences, and Elimination of the need for tail-docking in Australasian pork production systems. I thought it worthwhile summarising, in the table below, the projects that have been secured/are currently under consideration, addressing these two priorities.
These projects are collaborative, often multi-disciplinary, and without the support of all of the partners and individuals involved in each project, could not be achieved. The projects exemplify how funds can be successfully leveraged to enable more research and development, and more education and training, to be done for the benefit of the Australasian pork industry.
Further details on each of the successful projects can be found here.
Project and Funding Body | Total project cash | APRIL cash | Leveraged cash | Total project value (including in-kind) | APRIL cash leverage (on total project value) | |
1 | UofM Lead, Stress resilience and emotionality (3 yrs; ARC-Linkage project) | $688,641 | $100,000 | $588,651 | $1,261,778 | 12.6 : 1 |
2 | UQ Lead, Making antimicrobial use redundant (4 yrs; ARC-Linkage project) | $1,931,000 | $359,000 | $1,572,000 | $3,835,000 | 10.7 : 1 |
3 | SP Lead, Rearing pigs with intact tails (3 yrs, CRC-Project) | $4,531,116 | $750,000 | $3,781,116 | $7,876,194 | 10.5 : 1 |
4 | MU Lead, Feed additives and natural bacterial flora to combat antimicrobial resistant bacteria (3 yrs; APRIL) | $925,000 | $600,000 | $325,000 | $1,375,000 | 2.3 : 1 |
5 | MU-Lead, Robotics, genomics and stewardship to combat antimicrobial resistance in pigs (3 yrs; ARC-Linkage – UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR FUNDING) | $1,388,250 | $279,999 | $1,108,251 | $2,214,009 | 7.9 : 1 |
TOTAL (successful projects, 1-4) | $7,837,116 | $1,809,000 | $6,028,116 | $14,347,972 | Average = 7.9 : 1 | |
TOTAL (all projects, 1-5) | $9,225,366 | $2,088,999 | $7,136,367 | $16,561,981 | Average = 7.9 : 1 |
UofM: The University of Melbourne; UQ; The University of Queensland; MU: Murdoch University; SP: SunPork P/L.
This month’s Research Snapshot focuses on a project conducted through The University of Queensland that explored technologies and methodologies related to bio-upgrading of piggery biogas by growing algae, for potential value-add end uses. Please read on for further information.
In news from New Zealand and NZ Pork, Brent Kleiss has been named as the new Chief Executive of NZ Pork following David Baines’ recent resignation. Brent first joined NZ Pork in July 2021 as Policy Manager and officially moves into the role on May 2. APRIL thanks David for his valuable contributions during his tenure at NZ Pork, especially in regard to sharing of information concerning the current discussions about a new Draft Code of Welfare for Pigs. In this regard, NAWAC (National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee) has been working on a new draft code following a court ruling in 2020. A component of the NAWAC Pigs Subcommittee’s work plan was to undertake a Five Domains Assessment of animal welfare impacts and enhancements in relation to farrowing and mating system scenarios. NZ Pork sought an independent expert peer review of NAWAC’s report, and with APRIL’s support, commissioned a peer review by experts from the Animal Welfare Science Centre at The University of Melbourne and the Centre for Animal Science, The University of Queensland. More details on that report will be forthcoming.
Additionally, NZ Pork’s own modelling of cost impacts to the average New Zealand pig farmer shows that anticipated changes to farrowing crates and mating stalls without support measures impose a significant, if not completely unmanageable, barrier to a sustainable industry, with mooted changes to more space for growing pigs having an even greater impact. NZ Pork is committed to improving animal welfare where supported by science. Pending the outcomes of the upcoming consultation process on the pigs’ welfare code (dates yet to be confirmed), NZ Pork is poised to invest in research on farrowing and mating systems that will comply with any finalised changes to minimum standards.
Our Member Focus this edition is on Mr Robert Parkes, from Ridley Agriproducts Pty Ltd.
A new section to the Newsletter is called Papers and Abstracts, which will highlight recently published articles supported by APRIL. In this Newsletter, we take a brief look at papers from the Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA) meeting, 2021, relating to the single-diet feeding concept.
Finally, we would welcome receiving APRIL-related information and upcoming events from our Members for possible inclusion in the Newsletter [subject to space (preferred length is 100-150 words) and content], as we see this as an important communication forum between Members also. Please note though that news of APRIL activities has priority, and items of an advertorial nature are not permitted
Sincerely,
Dr John Pluske
CEO and Chief Scientist
Research and Innovation
A request for applications for APRIL Innovation Project and Industry Priority Project proposals closed in October 2021, with six Innovation Project and four Industry Priority Project applications received. Following its meeting on 24 February 2022, the Board supported the recommendations from the R&D Advisory Committee (meeting held October 2021) and has supported the following projects:
Innovation Projects
- Heating up the house: Evaluating the effect of novel monitoring and heating systems on the productivity, welfare and economics of farrowing houses [Dr Maria Jorquera-Chavez, Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd.].
- Use of progesterone and GM-CSF to improve the fertility of extended semen (A/Prof Mark Nottle, The University of Adelaide).
Industry Priority Projects
- How low CAN you go?: Optimising the use of calcium nitrate (CAN) in gestating sow diets to reduce piglet birthweight variation and improve their lifetime performance [Dr Jessica Craig, Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd.].
- Literature Review: Identifying knowledge gaps and strategies to improve progeny uniformity of pigs [Dr Fan Liu, Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd.].
Congratulations to all those involved in the successful projects, and we look forward to seeing the outcomes from the projects and the benefits to the Australasian pork industry.
One of APRIL’s strategic imperatives is to seek leverage of its funds against additional investment in priority research, education and training, and commercialisation programs to achieve necessary scale for key industry outcomes. In this regard, APRIL continues its Kickstart program for the 2022/23 financial year, which is aimed at providing seed funding to individuals/organisations to put together a project submission that seeks significant external funding, such as the projects shown in the previous table.
More details of the scheme can be found at https://apri.com.au/research/funding-opportunities/, or by contacting Dr John Pluske. Applications are open at any time.
As always, a reminder please that Project Leaders provide a Project Cash Expenditure Report and Project Quarterly Report for the quarters finishing 30 September 2021, 31 December 2021 and 31 March 2022 (and for some projects, 30 June 2021 and 31 March 2021). If needed, the Project Quarterly Report and Project Cash Expenditure report templates can be found at https://apri.com.au/research/project-reporting/. A growing number of projects have not reported their expenditures; hence, I would strongly encourage Project Leaders and administrators to submit reports for outstanding monies. However, any payments will not proceed without an accompanying Project Quarterly Report.
Education and Training
APRIL is pleased to announce a number of new education and training awards, as a result of a call for applications between November 2021 and January 2022, as follows:
Undergraduate/Post Graduate/DVM awardees:
- Kaitlin Beltakis, The University of Adelaide; Honours Award investigating the use of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) to improve the fertility of extended boar semen and increase embryo development (Supervisors: A/Prof Mark Nottle and Dr Nicole McPherson).
- Rutu Acharya, The University of Melbourne; support for training in bioinformatics and programming associated with a PhD program related to identifying potential predictors of tail biting outbreaks in pigs with intact tails housed under commercial conditions (Supervisors: Dr Lauren Hemsworth, Professors Paul Hemsworth and Alan Tilbrook).
- Soraya Haynes, Murdoch University; Post-Graduate ‘Top-Up’ for a PhD related to the assessment of the efficacy of disinfectants currently used in the Australian pork industry (Supervisors: Associate Professor Sam Abraham, Drs Mark O’Dea, Tim Hyndman and Rebecca Abraham).
- Sharif Islam, University of New England; Post-Graduate ‘Top-Up’ for a PhD investigating the level of inbreeding and associated genomic regions for inbreeding depression in pigs (Supervisor: Professor Susanne Hermesch).
- Bianca Hatze, The University of Sydney; DVM award for a project exploring whether the blood concentration of urocanic acid isoforms in domesticated pigs (Sus domesticus) varies according to season (Supervisors: Associate Professor Roslyn Bathgate and Professor Claire Wade).
Industry Placement Program (IPP) awardees:
- Dr Max Muller, The University of Queensland (in association with APRIL, SunPork and Ridley).
- Dr Nandi van Wyk (Apiam Animal Health/Portec Pty Ltd.).
APRIL wishes everyone the best with their respective awards, and looks forward to seeing the outcomes from the projects or contributions to the Australasian pork industry through the Industry Placement Program.
Call for Commercialisation Project Research Applications
Reducing variation in lifetime performance: Collection, storage and distribution of grain samples for in vivo and in vitro experiments, assessment of related grain chemical and physical characteristics, and management of the research data produced from experiments to improve the AusScan Online NIR calibrations.
Data collected from the Premium Grains for Livestock Project, CRC for an Internationally Competitive Pork Industry projects and CRC for High Integrity Australian Pork projects, and a current APRIL project, have been used to develop the AusScan Online near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) calibrations to predict the nutritional value of grains for livestock and various chemical and physical grain characteristics important to livestock production.
APRIL manages the license for the commercial use of the AusScan Online calibrations and is responsible for ongoing research and the maintenance and improvement of calibrations. APRIL conducted research upgrading the poultry AME calibrations in 2018, and in 2021, The University of Melbourne was awarded a research project from APRIL in 2021 to upgrade the pig DE calibrations.
APRIL is inviting Commercialisation Project applications from an experienced and qualified team (or teams) with access to suitable facilities to provide the required specialisations to undertake this project. The research project will be for a 3-year period, 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2025.
The APRIL Commercialisation Project scheme requires a minimum level of co-investment of 20% cash (of the total project cost).
The project application form and accompanying information document and Guidelines are available from the APRIL website: https://apri.com.au/research/funding-opportunities/.
Project applications open on 4 April 2022 and close at 5 pm on 20 May 2022.
For further information or inquiries, please contact Dr Charles Rikard-Bell, Manager, Commercialisation and Research Impact (0439 513 723).
Commercialisation
APRIL continues to provide Early Harvest Reports to key customers and nutritionists. AusScan Online collates a significant number of scans from different regions across Australia every month. The report aids nutritionists in providing a rapid assessment of the new season’s energy values for each grain type across different regions in Australia for different animals. The AusScan Online Early Harvest Report for scans conducted in February 2022 can be found in this month’s edition of the Australian Pork Newspaper.
On 24 December 2021, APRIL received confirmation from the TNA (transnational access) program of the PIGWEB project (https://www.pigweb.eu; funded under the EU Horizon 2020 program) that a Stage 1 pre-proposal, Assessment of a commercially-viable enrichment ‘block’ for group-housed gestating sows (co-supported by Ridley), was successful, with an invitation to proceed to a Stage 2 application. The Stage 2 application will be submitted this month.
There is another round of this program commencing September 2022, hence if anyone is interested in a research project in partnership with APRIL to access facilities from selected EU countries, ranging from feed manufacturing to metabolism/physiology to production units, please make contact, and we can discuss possible options. Most of the facilities in the program are associated with a university or research institute.
At its February 2022 meeting, the Board supported a new Commercialisation Project, Easing the weaning transition: pellet form and size to reduce the post-weaning growth check, with SunPork as the Lead Party and supported by Ridley. The project builds on a previously-funded APRIL Industry Priority Project, Easing the weaning transition: large piglets from large pellets, showing piglets had a greater level of interaction with larger pellets through object play, and more eating observations with large semi-moist extruded creep (SMEC). The project will be completed in September this year.
APRIL continues to build a relationship with growAG, managed by AgriFutures, seeking potential external investment into Commercialisation Projects and activities. growAG is a collaboration between the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment (DAWE) and Australia’s 15 Research & Development Corporations (RDCs), aimed at connecting investors, corporates, start-ups, researchers, industry, government and universities from Australia and around the world to locate information and opportunities to deliver innovation back to the farm and the food supply chain.
Please visit https://www.growag.com for further information.
Next month, APRIL will launch its Product Development Scheme, a new initiative that can provide up to 50% of the costs of performing studies to assess new products (including services or technologies) in a commercial environment for the benefit of the Australasian pork industry. More information will be forthcoming at that time, or please feel free to contact Dr Charles Rikard-Bell, Manager, Commercialisation and Research Impact (0439 513 723), for information.
Research Snapshot
A Final Report has been received from The University of Queensland [Associate Professor Paul Jensen; inputs from the University of Southern Queensland (Dr Stephan Tait) and Murdoch University (Professor Navid Moheimani)] titled Bio-upgrading piggery biogas by growing algae, for value-add end uses (4C-119).
The core goal of the technologies studied in the project was to remove H2S and CO2 from piggery biogas to improve the safety of piggery biogas and to increase CH4 concentrations. The project had two parts, with aims related to (A), the development of PPB (purple phototrophic bacteria) technology to remove H2S from biogas, being (i) investigate a fully autotrophic process for sulphide removal via PPB to estimate sulphide removal rates as well as biomass yield, (ii) demonstrate PPB-based sulphide removal in a continuous process and identify important design parameters for a full-scale process, and (iii) assess the viability of a continuous PPB-based sulphide removal process, including comparison to existing desulfurization technologies.
Aims related to (B), the development of algae technology to remove CO2 from biogas, were to (i) integrate effluent treatment with biogas purification using a saline microalga, (ii) determine the growth characteristics, biomass composition and maximum quantum yields marine microalga Tetraselmis suecica using synthetic biogas as a source of CO2, and ADPE (anaerobically digested piggery effluent) as a source of nutrients, (iii) explore the impact of pH and the resulting CO2 partial pressure on microalgae growth, and (iv) assess the effect of CH4 in biogas on microalgal cultivation of Tetraselmis sp.
For (A), the project was successful at proof-of-concept using PPB to treat a gas mixture containing 2,000 ppm H2S, 30% CO2 and ~70% CH4 in a continuous process. The process achieved an average H2S removal of 69-77% in the continuous process, with a maximum removal of 90%. The process can run chemical-free and can integrate with existing anaerobic pond technologies. The removal efficiencies achieved in the project reduced H2S to levels suitable for on-farm uses such as boilers, CHP and microturbines, and therefore represent an alternative to conventional iron sponge scrubbers for on farm use. However, multi-stage rectors or a secondary treatment step would be required to achieve complete H2S removal required for transport fuel uses and/or export into natural gas grids.
However, the cost of the PPB process was estimated at approximately $85 kg S-1; prohibitively high, with the major cost being the electricity used to irradiate the reactor overnight; these irradiation costs would need to be eliminated for PPB desulphurization to be viable. The PPB biomass generated in the process was high in protein and is a potential high-value by-product, but production rates were very low and not sufficient to generate any significant revenue to offset the high treatment cost.
In terms of part (B), the algal work, the project was successful at proof-of-concept using T. suecica to remove CO2 and waste nutrients in a batch biogas-effluent treatment process. The process achieved a CO2removal up to 94%. When applied to piggery biogas, the treated biogas could have a CH4 content of 94 to 98%, making the upgraded gas suitable for use as a transport fuel (after compression) or to export biogas into centralised natural gas grids. Nutrients were removed from the wastewater during treatment; however, due to the high nutrient content of piggery wastewater, only a small portion of the available waste nutrients (~6% N and ~1% P) appear required to support sequestration of all CO2 in the piggery biogas. No inhibitory effects were seen from the CH4 content of the synthetic biogas. The next stage of development could be to explore a continuous process, possibly at pilot stage, to clarify the biomass yields, carbon uptakes rates, harvesting costs and allow a more detailed assessment of the viability of biogas-based microalgae cultivation systems.
Check the APRIL website, https://apri.com.au/research/project-reports/, for more details on this project, as well as other Project Summaries and Final Reports.
Member Focus – Mr Robert Parkes (Ridley Agriproducts Pty Ltd.)

The first animal I can recall seeing was a pig. I grew up on a piggery in north western NSW, and by the age of 11 was entrusted with looking after the piggery over a weekend when my parents were away. I had really wonderful animal husbandry mentors in my grandmother and father, and continue to apply those skills on my own farm (no longer pigs, however). I spent all my spare time on our piggery until the age of 18 when my parents closed the piggery.
I continued my affinity with the pig industry throughout my undergraduate studies at the University of New England and was fortunate to receive a PRDC (Pig Research & Development Corporation, the predecessor to APL) undergraduate award. The award enabled me to complete my Honours project at a local piggery investigating ‘The effect of diversional stimuli, “Toys”, on the aggressive behaviour of weaner and grower pigs’. At the completion of my undergraduate studies, I completed post-graduate studies in business management and marketing and was fortunate to join Ridley. In my current role I manage our monogastric nutrition team, technical customer support and research and innovation.
In my almost 30 years with Ridley, I have worked in nutrition technical selling roles, technical management roles, quality management and general and business management. Across my career I have been aligned with the pig industry. I have been fortunate to sit on pig industry advisory committees in Victoria, the PRDC R&D committee, Pork CRC II R&D committee and also the APRIL R&D Advisory Committee. With a focus on animal feeding, I have filled many industry roles including President of the Stockfeed Manufacturers Council of Australia (SFMCA), Vice Chairman of the Grain Trade Australia (GTA) Board and Chairman of the GTA Standards Committee.
Ridley is a founding member of APRIL, and I believe bringing research breakthroughs to market will help drive improvement for the Australian industry. I would have loved to have had a ‘block thrown into the mix’ when I was completing my Honours project!
Introducing: Sophie Ward

Sophie developed an interest in agriculture after reading about Dr Temple Grandin, the American animal scientist that revolutionised animal handling and husbandry methods on farms. Inspired by the work conducted by Dr. Grandin, Sophie found herself drawn towards the way animals are treated in livestock industry, particularly pigs and poultry. This led her to study Animal Science at The University of Adelaide, taking part in a hobby group (Pig Club) that allows students to interact and care for pigs. With little knowledge of pigs, Sophie found it so interesting learning how funny and intelligent these animals could be, teaching her ‘pet’ pig to sit, spin and follow her hand. With financial support from the Australasian Pork Research Institute (APRIL), Sophie was able to pursue an Honours project with supervisors A/Prof. Roy Kirkwood and Dr. Kate Plush, focusing on farrowing assistance to sows in later parities.
Then, with the financial support of Australian Pork Limited, Sophie was fortunate to continue research with her supervisors, conducting a PhD on the management of sows and their litter around the periparturient period. Over this candidature, Sophie had the opportunity to work with Professor Sanjay Garg and his team at the Pharmaceutical Innovation and Development Group (PIDG), University of South Australia, to develop a non-injectable method for inducing sows to farrow over working hours. She submitted her PhD in February, 2022.
Post candidature, Sophie is now part of the team at APRIL, focusing on how precision livestock technologies can help rear pigs with intact tails as part of her Early Career Science Fellowship, funded through a successful CRC-Project obtained in 2021.
Papers and Abstracts
The 18th Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA) meeting held in Brisbane in November 2021, with APRIL as Principal Co-Sponsor with APL, saw 15 abstracts from APRIL co-funded projects presented at the meeting. Two papers funded in part by APRIL were titled, “The correct single diet can replace phase-feeding in grower-finisher pigs without compromising growth performance and carcase quality”(Hewitt, R.J.E., Sampaio, M.O., Corso, A.C., Tritton, S.M. and D’Souza, D.N.), and “Commercial evaluation of a phase feeding strategy compared to a single diet strategy for grower-finisher pigs” (Ford, E.M., Liu, F., Brewster, C.J. and Henman, D.J.). Along with another paper on the same subject (“Feeding a single diet throughout the grower-finisher period produces comparative results to a phase-feeding program”; Zemetis et al.), considerable discussion occurred at the meeting in relation to the topic and the practical implications of the findings.
All papers reported that feeding a specifically formulated single diet during the grow-finish phase, compared to a phase-feeding program, had no overall deleterious impacts on production or carcase quality. These results agree with the previous work of Dr Karen Moore presented at APSA in 2019 (APRIL project A3A-103: Feeding a single diet to pigs in the grower/finisher stage to reduce feed costs and improve feed efficiency). In some instances, there were cost benefits associated with the single-diet feeding strategy. However, as would be anticipated, responses were different, or of a different magnitude, depending on the type of production and close-out practices, genotype and sex of pigs used, and feeding a single diet during the grow-finish phase may not be applicable under all circumstances.
These papers (and indeed all of the conference papers) can be accessed via https://www.apsa.asn.au/product/2021-manipulating-pig-production-xviii/
Events and Important Dates
- British Society of Animal Science Annual Conference, 12-14 April 2022; EMCC Nottingham and Online (https://bsas.org.uk/conference).
- 2022 Poultry Information Exchange (PIX) and Australasian Milling Conference (AMC), 15-17 May 2022; Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia (https://pixamc.com.au).
- 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology in Pigs (DPP2022), 17-20 May 2022; Rotterdam, The Netherlands (https://dpp2022.com).
- ZeroZincSummit 2022, 22-23 June 2022; Copenhagen, Denmark (https://www.tilmeld.dk/zerozincsummit2022).
- International Pig Veterinary Society Congress (IPVS), 21-24 June 2022; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (https://ipvs2022.com/pt/).
- ASAS-CSAS Annual Meeting, 26-30 June 2022; Oklahoma City, OK, USA (https://www.asas.org/meetings/annual-2022).
- 12th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, 3-8 July 2022; Rotterdam, The Netherlands (https://wcgalp.com).
- 34th Australian Association of Animal Sciences (AAAS) Conference, 5-7 July 2022; Cairns, Queensland, Australia (https://www.animalscienceconference2022.com.au).
- 19th Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production (AAAP) Animal Science Congress, 23-26 August 2022; Jeju Island, Korea (http://www.aaap2022.org).
- 73rd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Animal Production (EAAP), 5-9 September 2022; Porto, Portugal (https://www.eaap2022.org).
APRIL News December 2021
Welcome to the final edition of APRIL News for 2021.
First, I would sincerely like to thank all of the presenters [David Baines (NZ Pork Industry Board), Dr Mark O’Dea (DPIRD WA), Dr Alice Weaver (SARDI), Dr Rob Smits (APL), Lauren Staveley (SunPork Solutions), Steve Lydeamore (Anatara Lifesciences), Dr Ricardo Esquerra (Ridley) and Dr Tom Harrison (Apiam Animal Health)] and attendees who participated in APRIL’s Stakeholders’ Forum, on 15 November.
Again, and unfortunately, the Forum could not be held in a face-to-face format as was going to occur, in association with the 18th biennial conference of the Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA) in Brisbane. Nonetheless, in excess of 75 registrants tuned in for the event, and participated in questions and answers and feedback. This remains an important annual event to exchange important industry information and experiences and provide updates and overviews on APRIL projects.
Please let me know if you would like any further information from the Forum.
The Stakeholders’ Forum was preceded by APRIL’s Annual General Meeting, and congratulations to Neil Ferguson (Westpork Pty Ltd.) for being re-elected to the APRIL Board.
I mentioned in the last Newsletter that a consortium, with SunPork Pty Ltd. as the Lead Applicant, had applied for a Round 11 CRC-Project (CRC-P) titled, Eliminating pig tail removal to improve welfare and industry sustainability. In early September, SunPork Pty Ltd. was advised that the CRC-P had been supported by the Australian Government. Other partners in the 3-year project are APRIL, Australian Pork Limited, PIC Australasia P ty Ltd., Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd., RSPCA Australia, The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland, and the University of New England.
The application requested, and received, an Australian Government cash investment of $2,892,374 over 3 years, which combined with the project partners’ cash contribution of $1,638,742 ($750,000 from APRIL), has been able to leverage an additional $3,345,078 of combined in-kind contributions from the partners. The project directly addresses a key Transformational Project objective in APRIL’s Strategic Plan., and will also provide opportunities for support and training for a number of Honours students, postgraduate students, and early-career scientists.
This month’s Research Snapshot focuses on a project conducted at Murdoch University that measured immune responses to four different Streptococcus suis vaccine preparations, using an Australian cps2 ST25 strain of the bacterium.
Our Member Focus this edition is on Dr Taya Clarke, from Westpork Pty Ltd. Please read on for further information.
As alluded to above, the APSA conference (APRIL was co-Platinum sponsor) was held this year in hybrid format, with ~ 75 attendees being able to be present in Brisbane for the event. The meeting attracted less abstracts and a smaller audience than in previous years, but nevertheless and given the current circumstances, it was very pleasing to see the attendance and high level of participation, and appreciate the exchange of ideas and scientific and practical information that occurred. The session on the final morning contained a number of papers related to the ‘single diet’ feeding concept supported in part by APRIL, which attracted considerable discussion.
A total of 15 abstracts from APRIL co-funded projects will soon be published in animal-science proceedings.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year, and extend my thanks and appreciation to Dr Charles Rikard-Bell and Geoff Crook from APRIL, Dr Tony Peacock (Chair) and fellow Directors, to Australian Pork Limited, and to everyone involved in APRIL projects and interactions, for support, feedback, and generosity of time during this difficult year.
Finally, thanks are extended to The University of Adelaide and Flinders University for supporting APRIL with their memberships.
Sincerely,
Dr. John Pluske
CEO/Chief Scientist
M: 0410 436 871
E: j.pluske@april.org.au
www.april.org.au
Research and Innovation
A request for applications for APRIL Innovation Project and Industry Priority Project proposals closed on 1 October 2021. A total of 10 proposals (six Innovation Projects and four Industry Priority Projects) was received, with the APRIL cash requested, the external cash pledged, and the facility funding (cash) requested being $1,403,004, $948,809 and $745,520, respectively, between 2021/22 and 2023/24. The APRIL Board met on 12 November to consider the recommendations of the Research & Development Advisory Committee for project support, and five projects were supported subject to a range of modifications and changes. The projects will be highlighted in the next Newsletter.
One of APRIL’s strategic imperatives is to seek leverage of its funds against additional investment in priority research, education and training, and commercialisation programs to achieve necessary scale for key industry outcomes. In this regard, APRIL will continue its Kickstart program for the 2021/22 financial year, which is aimed at providing seed funding to individuals/organisations to put together a project submission that seeks significant external funding. More details of the scheme can be found at https://apri.com.au/research/funding-opportunities/, or by contacting Dr John Pluske. Applications are open at any time.
A reminder please that Project Leaders provide a Project Cash Expenditure Report and Project Quarterly Report for the quarters finishing 30 September 2021 and 31 December 2021 (and for some projects, 30 June 2021 and 31 March 2021). If needed, the Project Quarterly Report and Project Cash Expenditure report templates can be found at https://apri.com.au/research/project-reporting/. A growing number of projects have not reported their expenditures; hence, I would strongly encourage Project Leaders and administrators to submit reports for outstanding monies. However, any payments will not proceed without an accompanying Project Quarterly Report.
Education and Training
APRIL is pleased to announce two recent education awards provided to Emma Goode and Katelyn Tomas, from the University of New England and The University of Queensland, respectively. Emma was supported with a postgraduate scholarship to assist with her Masters by Coursework program, which related to potential predictive factors to identify sows that are better able to breed during the challenging summer-autumn seasons. Katelyn Tomas was awarded a postgraduate ‘top-up’ scholarship for 2 years to assist with her PhD studies examining the long-term effects of maternal behaviour and human contact early in life on pigs’ tendency to respond to stress.
To build further upon APRIL’s current research and education and training investments, APRIL is currently seeking applications to support its education and training programs and assist in further building human capacity for the industry. Applications for APRIL’s education awards and Industry Placement Program are now open and close 28 January, 2022. Please visit https://apri.com.au/education-and-training-opportunities/ for more details and application forms.
With a growing number of student projects being completed, the APRIL website has been updated to allow student project reports to be accessed; please visit https://apri.com.au/student-project-reports/.
Commercialisation
A key part of this year’s Stakeholders’ Forum was an emphasis on APRIL’s commercialisation activities. Attendees at the Forum heard a general overview provided by Dr Charles Rikard-Bell (APRIL) and then presentations provided by Steve Lydeamore (Anatara Lifesciences), Dr Ricardo Esquerra (Ridley) and Dr Tom Harrison (Apiam Animal Health) on products and technologies in the Australasian pork industry.
In this context, Dr Rikard-Bell commented that the APRIL pipeline has some promising technology and some excellent research partners and commercial proposals to validate technologies prior to commercialisation and adoption. Potential opportunities exist for the industry with (i) real-time, in-field water quality assessment, (ii) rapid measurement techniques to detect the presence and concentration of boar taint compounds at processing, and (iii) a ‘lab on a chip’ for pen-side assessments of welfare and pain. Please contact Dr Rikard-Bell if you would like any further information.
This harvest, APRIL will continue an initiative started during the 2020/21 harvest and provide periodic Early Harvest Reports to key customers. AusScan Online collates a significant number of scans from different regions across Australia every month. The report aids nutritionists in providing a rapid assessment of the new season’s energy values for each grain type across different regions in Australia for different animals. To this end, we anticipate the start of in vivo studies at The University of Melbourne (significantly delayed due to Covid-19) to upgrade the pig digestible energy calibrations in AusScan Online.
Research Snapshot
A Final Report has been received from Murdoch University [Dr Mark O’Dea (now at Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, WA) and Associate Professor Sam Abraham] that measured immune responses to four different Streptococcus suis vaccine preparations, using an Australian cps2 ST25 strain.
Bacterial cultures of a cps2 ST25 S. suis strain were prepared at concentrations of 1×109 colony forming units (cfu)/ml and 1×1010 cfu/ml, and inactivated using either (i) formalin, (ii) binary ethylenimine (BEI), (iii) lysozyme/detergent or (iv) heat treatment (60°C for one hour, with gentle agitation). Eight weaner pigs were assigned to each vaccine group, including a negative control group, and received 1 ml of vaccine preparation intra-muscularly on days zero and 14 after weaning. Blood was collected from each pig on days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 for measurement of serological response, and pigs were weighed on days 0, 7, 14 and 21. Analysis of total immunoglobulin, IgM, IgG1 and IgG2 was performed using ELISA.
The heat-inactivated vaccine using a dose of 1×1010 cfu/ml produced the most robust immune response as measured by total Ig and IgG1. Using sample to positive ratio as a proxy of antibody level, mean optical density (OD) levels were higher than all other treatment groups. Higher mean OD sample/positive ratio for heat-inactivated vaccine using a dose of 1×1010 cfu/ml was seen for the IgG1 subtype, with a significant (P<0.05) difference when compared to lysozyme and BEI at 1×109 cfu/ml and BEI at 1×1010 cfu/ml. The IgG2 sample/positive ratio was also higher overall for heat-inactivated vaccine at 1×1010 cfu/ml. However, a significant (P<0.05) difference was only seen between this and BEI at 1×109 cfu/ml. There were no statistically significant differences when assessing IgM.
Titration of serum samples from day 0 and day 35 was performed for all 1×1010 cfu/ml vaccine preparations. The heat treatment vaccine showed a significant increase in total Ig measured, with a four-fold increase in antibody titre over this period, and both the heat treatment and formalin vaccines showed ≥4-fold titre increases in IgG1 measured.
The researchers concluded that a S. suis heat-treated vaccine preparation could elicit IgG antibody responses that were superior to other preparations tested, including the currently and commercially used formalin inactivation method. The use of heat inactivation is a potentially simple and cheap method for bacterin production, and would likely be a feasible option for large scale vaccine production following field trials to assess protective efficacy.
Check the APRIL website, https://apri.com.au/research/project-reports/, for more details on this project, as well as other Project Summaries and Final Reports.
Member Focus – Dr Taya Clarke (Westpork Pty Ltd.)

Taya started her journey working with animals at a young age, with her parents active in wildlife conservation and rehabilitation. She studied Animal Science at The University of Western Australia, completing an Honours project in 2008 working with sheep.
Taya then went overseas for 2 years, living and working in Oxford, UK at the Food Animal Initiative, working in poultry research under Dr Marion Stamp-Dawkins. Upon arriving back in Australia, Taya undertook a PhD at Murdoch University, investigating sow welfare and behaviour. Throughout her studies, Taya worked with the RSPCA Australia as an Approved Farming Scheme assessor, visiting many different farming schemes all over Australia. This is where she learned that good welfare comes in many different forms. When her PhD was completed, she began a role as Technical Manager with Westpork in 2015. In the 6 years since beginning with Westpork, Taya’s role has evolved to manage all facets of animal welfare, APIQ accreditation, and she also oversees all research trials conducted on Westpork farms.
Outside of her role at Westpork, Taya sits on a number of committees, including the APRIL R&D Committee, Pork Innovation WA, Pork Industry Training WA, DPIRD Biosecurity Consultative Committee and APSA. Although there isn’t much time to conduct her own research, Taya believes in keeping informed about new science, and is always on the lookout for innovation that can be adapted to on-farm practice.
Westpork is a founding member of APRIL, and Taya believes it is integral for research to be industry supported so that it stays relevant and drives improvement for the Australian industry. The collaborative nature of Australian pig research is also integral to keeping research innovative.
Employment Opportunity – APRIL Early Career Scientist
APRIL is seeking an Early Career Scientist who has completed (or nearly completed) their doctorate studies having less than 5 years of relevant postdoctoral work experience (or pro-rata equivalent) to work in a multi-disciplinary project across different organisations and cultures, including on-farm work, to address strategies to eliminate tail docking in the Australasian pork industry. The position is offered as a full time, 3-year fixed term contract, and will be available January/February 2022.
Please visit here for further details. Applications close 22 December. For any further information, please contact APRIL CEO/Chief Scientist Dr John Pluske.
Events and Important Dates
- American Society of Animal Science Midwest meeting, 14-16 March 2022; Omaha NE (https://www.asas.org/sections/midwest-section/meetings).
- British Society of Animal Science Annual Conference, 12-14 April 2022; EMCC Nottingham and Online (https://bsas.org.uk/conference).
- 15th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology in Pigs (DPP2022), 17-20 May 2022; Rotterdam, The Netherlands (https://dpp2022.com).
- ZeroZincSummit 2022, 22-23 June 2022; Copenhagen, Denmark (https://www.tilmeld.dk/zerozincsummit2022). The call for Abstracts for this meeting is now open until 31 December 2021.
- International Pig Veterinary Society Congress (IPVS), 21-24 June 2022; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (https://ipvs2022.com/pt/).
APRIL Early Career Scientist Fellowship
APRIL is seeking an Early Career Scientist who has completed (or nearly completed) their doctorate studies and has less than 5 years of relevant postdoctoral work experience (or pro-rata equivalent).
The successful applicant will be offered a full time, 3-year fixed term contract to work with fellow scientists and staff on a collaborative and interdisciplinary project aimed at eliminating pig tail removal (docking) and raising pigs with intact tails, to improve overall pig welfare and industry sustainability.
For further information and how to apply, visit: https://www.seek.com.au/Early-Career-Scientist-Fellowship-jobs.
APRIL Announcement
APRIL is pleased to announce a call for applications for its Education Awards and Industry Placement Program (IPP) Award
Education Awards
To build upon APRIL’s current research and education investments, APRIL is seeking applications to support its education program and assist in further building human capacity for the industry. A number of different opportunities exist for undergraduate and postgraduate students/potential students within APRIL, as follows:
- Scholarship Awards for Honours students.
- ‘Top-ups’ for postgraduate research students (PhD, MS/MSc/MPhil) in an APRIL-funded research project (or related).
- Support for DVM/undergraduate Veterinary Science projects.
- Support for MS/MSc/MPhil students, where a research project is an incorporated component of the program of study, in an APRIL-funded research project (or related).
- Part-support for PhD students.
Please click here for Information concerning the different education opportunities, including Guidelines and Application Forms.
The APRIL Education Advisory Committee will assess all applications against APRIL-related criteria including the academic record and curriculum vitae of the applicant, the applicant’s research potential including the research proposal, alignment with APRIL research priorities, evidence of industry endorsement/relevance, a personal statement from the applicant, the supervisor(s) track record, and a communication and delivery plan (if appropriate).
APRIL will determine the number of, and the amount of, any grant awarded.
How to Apply
Education Awards: completed applications must reach APRIL by the closing date and be lodged electronically to Dr Charles Rikard-Bell.
Questions on any of the Awards should be directed to APRIL Chief Scientist/CEO Dr John Pluske.
Industry Placement Program (IPP) Award
APRIL is continuing to assist with human capacity building in the Australasian pork industry through the IPP Award scheme. A successful business applicant will receive $75,000 over the first 2 years of a 3-year agreement with APRIL to help cover salary and other costs associated with training an Awardee for the 3 years. The overall aims of the IPP scheme are to:
- Retain graduates trained by APRIL, the Pork CRC, APL, and (or) other relevant organisations, at the Honours and (or) postgraduate level, and attract others, by sponsoring their placement in a commercial pork production organisation or an affiliated business within the Australasian pork industry, in a structured and enhanced development program.
- Attract and stimulate graduates into the industry with a career interest in pork production, while continuing their development and understanding of how research and development, technology, and extension/adoption can enhance industry competitiveness and success.
- Expose graduates wanting a long-term research and development, advisory, and (or) technical support role related to commercial aspects of pork production in the Australasian pork industry, and enhance their contributions and value to pork businesses in future roles.
Please click here for further information and the Application Form.
How to Apply
Industry Placement Program Awards: completed applications must reach APRIL by the closing date and be lodged electronically by the applying organisation, including the name and qualifications of the proposed candidate, to the APRIL Chief Scientist/CEO Dr John Pluske
Questions on the IPP Award/process can be directed to Dr John Pluske
Opening and Closing Dates
Applications for both the Education Awards and the Industry Placement Program Awards open on 1 November 2021 and close 28 January 2022.
APRIL Announcement
Successful Cooperative Research Centre-Project (CRC-P) Application
APRIL is very pleased to announce that an application submitted in Round 11 of the Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) government program titled Eliminating pig tail removal to improve welfare and industry sustainability, with SunPork Pty Ltd. as the Lead Applicant, has been supported by the Australian Government. View the announcement here.
Partners in this 3-year project are APRIL, Australian Pork Limited, PIC Australasia Pty Ltd., Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd., RSPCA Australia, The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland, and the University of New England.
The application requested, and received, an Australian Government cash investment of $2,892,374 over 3 years, which combined with the project partners’ cash contribution of $1,638,742 ($750,000 from APRIL), has been able to leverage an additional $3,345,078 of combined in-kind contributions from the partners. As the major cash contributor to the project, this represents an overall leverage for APRIL of ~ 10.5:1.
Dr Robert van Barneveld, Group CEO and Managing Director of the SunPork Group, says that the project will adopt a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to solving this industry-wide issue, with the aim being to provide pork producers with the confidence to raise pigs with intact tails while maintaining high standards of pig welfare.
APRIL CEO and Chief Scientist Dr John Pluske said the grant was noteworthy and timely, and directly addressed a key Transformational Project objective in APRIL’s Strategic Plan. The project will also provide opportunities for support and training for a number of Honours students, postgraduate students, and early-career scientists.
This successful CRC-P award is an excellent example of developing highly productive cooperative partnerships and making the most of world-leading research with organisations coming together to work in a collaborative and cohesive manner to address all-of-industry issues. The award also demonstrates the capacity for APRIL to successfully partner with other organisations to leverage external funding for a major research project of industry-wide importance.
For further information as to how APRIL can function to support industry-led research and development for the pork industry, please contact APRIL Chief Scientist/CEO Dr John Pluske.
APRIL Announcement
APRIL Announces Call for Applications for Industry Priority and Innovation Projects
The Australasian Pork Research Institute Ltd (APRIL) is seeking applications for its Industry Priority Project and Innovation Project grant application schemes, for commencement in 2022.
An independent, member-based entity, APRIL seeks to enhance the Australasian pork industry by investing in research and development, education and training, and commercialisation activities focused on priorities and deliverables that ensure the sustainability of Australasian pork production, and to generate optimal returns for its stakeholders.
APRIL’s Industry Priority Projects address a number of key areas that will help to shape the future industry landscape. Specifically, APRIL is looking for applications related to the following priorities only:
- Novel approaches to allow increased use of food wastes in pig diets;
- Improved water quality for use/re-use on-farm and in processing facilities;
- Development of real time monitoring and surveillance technologies under commercial conditions;
- Establish pork as an integral part of a healthy lifestyle;
- Reducing variation in lifetime performance;
- Heavier carcasses.
More information on these priorities can be found in the Guidelines, available from the APRIL website.
Applications can be lodged by researchers currently working in the Australasian pork industry, but are also welcomed from individuals and organisations not necessarily with a direct affiliation with the industry. Potential applicants should be acquainted with APRIL’s membership base and the prospective advantages interactions with members may bring to a proposal.
As with previous APRIL funding rounds, a minimum level of co-investment of 25% cash (of the total project cost) is required for Industry Priority Projects. However, the priorities lend themselves to potentially significantly higher levels of external investment, and researchers interested in applying should seek these avenues wherever possible.
Selection criteria include the quality of the science being proposed, soundness and logic of rationale and methodologies, the relevance of partnerships and appropriateness of the collaboration and engagement strategies, the track record, multi-disciplinary composition and capability of the research team, performance and outputs from previously held research grants (if appropriate), appropriateness of the budget and overall value for money in regard to the contribution of this research to the strategic directions and purposes of APRIL, and the ease of adoption of the project outcomes and their potential impact on the Australasian pork industry.
APRIL’s Innovation Projects are designed specifically to support ‘out of the box’ ideas for smart, new approaches to tackle the current and emerging challenges of the Australasian pork industry. Innovation Projects must demonstrate originality, uniqueness and creativity, establish new concepts or challenge existing ones, address significant challenges or critical barriers to progress, and be able to improve or apply new theoretical concepts, methodologies or tools that will benefit industry.
The assessment of applications will be based strongly on these criteria, and revenue-generating potential, if appropriate, will also be considered. Collaborative approaches by researchers and industry personnel are strongly encouraged, as are applications from individuals and organisations not necessarily having a direct affiliation with the pork industry but think a difference can be made.
Innovation Projects are negotiable to around 12 to 18 months in duration, have a maximum budget of ~$75,000, and require a minimum external cash co-investment of 25% of the total cash cost of the project. Cash contributions to the cost of the project exceeding this amount will viewed favourably.
Both the Industry Priority and Innovation Project schemes are provided on a nationally competitive basis and available to applicants from any organisation. All APRIL funding schemes are assessed, evaluated and recommended for funding by the Research and Development Advisory Committee, which has the collective expertise and experience to effectively assess applications against all selection criteria for that scheme. If approved, research scheme funds are paid directly to the successful applicant. Funding Rules for research schemes funded by APRIL stipulate that no overhead (indirect cost recovery) can be charged.
For any further information or any questions on the Industry Priority Project and Innovation Project schemes, please contact either Dr Charles Rikard-Bell (Manager, Commercialisation and Research Impact), or Dr John Pluske (Chief Scientist and CEO).
Important Dates:
Applications open: 30 August 2021
Applications Close: 1 October 2021
It is anticipated that funding for successful projects would occur after December, 2021, subject to APRIL Board approval.
APRIL News August 2021
Welcome to this edition of APRIL News.
I mentioned in the last Newsletter that APRIL is involved in two large Transformation Project applications:
(1) an Australian Research Council (ARC)-Linkage application submitted through Murdoch University (Chief Investigators Associate Professor Sam Abraham, Murdoch University; Professor Darren Trott, The University of Adelaide) titled Novel approaches for combating critically important antimicrobial resistance development in pigs;
(2) a Cooperative Research Centre-Project (CRC-P) application (Lead Applicant: SunPork Pty Ltd.) titled Eliminating pig tail removal to improve welfare and industry sustainability.
We have since received news that the ARC-Linkage grant was unsuccessful in attracting this significant external funding. The application was placed in the top 10% of unsuccessful applications. This funding scheme is very competitive – the success rate was 24% – signifying the very strong level of interest from all manner of businesses and industries in Australia for support for R&D activities. Be this as it may, I believe there is still strong interest in pursuing these projects, and together with partners and collaborators, we will explore other avenues for supporting the work.
We have yet to hear about the CRC-P application.
This month’s Research Snapshot focuses on a recently completed project conducted at Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd. exploring a number of additives included in the diets of late-gestation sows on aspects of sow and litter performance.
Our Member Focus this edition is on Professor Eugeni Roura, from The University of Queensland. Please read on for further information.
An APRIL Webinar will be conducted on 1 September at 11:00 AM (AEST) providing information on a number of nutrition-related projects (nursery pigs, grow-finish pigs, sows) completed or underway in APRIL. Information has already been sent out for this Webinar, but please contact either Dr Charles Rikard-Bell or myself if you require the information again.
The Australasian Pig Science Association meeting (APRIL is co-Platinum sponsor) is scheduled (in a hybrid format) for 15-18 November this year, in Brisbane. It was pleasing to see a total of 15 abstracts from APRIL co-funded projects submitted for consideration for publication and presentation; thank you to all authors for submitting abstracts. Abstracts will be published in animal-science proceedings. Let us genuinely hope that we are all able to get together for this important conference.
Finally, APRIL would sincerely like to thank Windridge Farms Pty Ltd. and Blantyre Farms Pty Ltd., Elanco Australia and The University of Adelaide for supporting APRIL with their memberships.
Sincerely,
Dr. John Pluske
CEO/Chief Scientist
M: 0410 436 871
E: j.pluske@april.org.au
www.april.org.au
Research and Innovation

One of APRIL’s strategic imperatives is to seek leverage of its funds against additional investment in priority research, education and training, and commercialisation programs to achieve necessary scale for key industry outcomes.
In this regard, APRIL is pleased to announce a continuation of its Kickstart program for the 2021/22 financial year, a program aimed at providing seed funding to individuals/organisations to put together a project submission that seeks significant external funding.
More details of the scheme can be found at https://apri.com.au/research/funding-opportunities/, or by contacting Dr John Pluske email here.
Applications are open at any time.
Education and Training

A PhD Scholarship Opportunity currently exists at The University of Queensland, and it is seeking expressions of interest for a PhD Scholarship in the field of piglet nutrition and digestive physiology. The candidate will become a key contributor to develop an exciting project based on promoting early feed intake and gastrointestinal development in piglets by enhancing the natural maternal bonds between sow and piglets, and other innate physiological mechanisms. The main aim of the project is to increase the resilience of piglets by promoting gut health early in life, hence reducing the reliance on antibiotic treatments. The project is funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through the ARC-Linkage program, and is based on a multi-institutional collaborative research program that will involve leading research groups at The Universities of Queensland and Melbourne, and National and International partner organizations including the Australasian Pork Research Institute Ltd. (APRIL), leading Australian pork producers, and global leaders in feed additives.
The candidate will be based at The University of Queensland (St Lucia Campus). For more information, please visit www.scholarships.uq.edu.au/scholarship/phd-scholarship-how-make-antibiotics-pig-feed-redundant-naturally.
Congratulations go to Dr Jeremy Ayre with the conferral earlier this month of his PhD thesis through Murdoch University, titled ‘Advances in treatment of anaerobic digestate of piggery effluent using microalgae’. Jeremy and his work were funded originally through the Pork CRC and finished with APRIL. Jeremy’s supervisors were A/Prof. Navid Moheimani, Prof. John Pluske, Prof. Michael Borowitzka and Dr Sasha Jenkins. Jeremy has published a number of papers from his thesis, but if anyone would like a copy of his PhD, please let me know.
Commercialisation
APRIL is pleased to announce a new addition to its AusScan Online service through Aunir: a calibration to measure faecal starchcontent in dried faeces, for ruminants. As a part of the Premium Grains for Livestock Program, from which the current digestible energy (DE) calibration and apparent metabolisable energy for pigs and poultry, respectively, were established, research in cattle investigated the impacts of grain species, cultivar, grain processing methods and faecal sampling methods on energy and starch digestion in the digestive tract.
Monitoring starch digestion in feedlot cattle is valuable for determining the efficiency of grain energy use and identifying areas limiting enterprise profitability, such as energy utilisation and acidosis risk. Measuring starch digestibility in commercial feedlots is generally impractical, but there is a close association between total starch digestion and faecal starch content such that for a typical feedlot diet, a 1% increase in faecal starch content has been reported to result in around 0.68 MJ less energy available to each animal.
The AusScan Online faecal starch calibration established using more than 300 grain samples fed to cattle shows an excellent relationship (R2 = 0.99) between predicted and measured faecal starch content (% dry matter), demonstrating a very robust model.
For further information regarding faecal sample collection and processing methods and the use of this calibration, please go to the Aunir website or contact Dr Charles Rikard-Bell, Manager, Commercialisation and Research Impact.
The agreement between APRIL, The University of Melbourne, and Feedworks, for the project Strengthening the AusScan Online Pig Digestible Energy (DE) Calibrations, has been signed. This project aims to strengthen the Auscan Online pig DE calibration through the conduct of ileal and faecal digestibility studies on new and existing connectivity grains, for inclusion in the NIR calibration. Studies will commence in the new year.
Research snapshot
A Final Report has been received from Dr Jessica Craig and colleagues [Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd.) that explored low dose dietary strategies in late gestation to enhance piglets born alive, piglet survival and performance, and subsequent sow reproductive performance.
The main objective of the project was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of 0.15% β-hydroxy β-methyl butyrate (HMB), 0.15% N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) and 0.1% Ca(NO3)2 (calcium nitrate) to sows in late gestation on their litter performance and subsequent reproductive performance, relative to L-arginine supplementation. It was hypothesised that supplementation of these additives would increase piglet vitality at birth and therefore their overall performance to weaning, increasing the number and/or proportion of live piglets born and weaned.
The experiment was conducted from February to May 2020 using a total of 537 sows allocated to one of five dietary treatments at day 90 of gestation, balanced for sow parity (multiparous sows, parities 2-7) and body weight at day 90. The five diets consisted of: (1) CON – basal (control) diet (common gestation diet; n = 108); (2) ARG – basal diet + 0.5% added arginine (n = 101); (3) HMB – basal diet + 0.15% added β-hydroxy β-methyl butyrate (n = 107); (4) NCG – basal diet + 0.15% N-carbamylglutamate (n = 113); and (5) CAN –basal diet + 0.1% Ca(NO3)2 (n = 108). Sows entered the farrowing house at approximately day 108 of gestation and continued on their experimental diets until the day of farrowing. Sow body weight, P2 backfat, feed intake, total piglets born and born alive, stillbirth percentage, individual birth weights, and litter weights at birth, day 7 and day 25 of lactation were measured for each litter. Subsequent sow reproductive performance was also assessed.
The main outcomes of the study were: (1) supplementation of CAN improved birth weights of piglets and reduced the proportion of piglets born < 1.1 kg; (2) piglets born to sows supplemented with CAN had a higher pre-weaning survival chance; (3) supplementation of HMB improved the growth performance of suckling piglets from birth to weaning; and (4) subsequent sow reproductive performance was not impacted. From these improvements it was shown from a cost-benefit analysis that HMB and CAN were the most cost effective of the additives investigated. It was recommended that further research is required to confirm the optimal feeding time and inclusion rates of these additives.
Check the APRIL website, for more details on this project, as well as other Final Reports and Project Summaries.
Member Focus – Professor Eugeni Roura (The University of Queensland)

Professor Eugeni Roura is a Professorial Research Fellow and Post-Graduate Coordinator in the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland (UQ). After obtaining a degree in Veterinary Sciences (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona; UAB) he focused his interest in non-ruminant nutrition and digestive physiology (PhD in Nutrition –University of California and UAB), and after working for the food and feed industries in R&D and technical executive management in a market-focused global environment, joined UQ in 2010. Professor Roura leads an active and growing research team with main interests related to the mechanisms involved in sensing dietary nutrients and their involvement in appetite modulation and food/feed intake in humans, pigs and poultry, and applied nutritional digestive physiology.
Professor Roura currently has a number of APRIL-funded projects including those related to improving feed efficiency, control of P2 back fat and maintenance of pork quality in finishing pigs fed bitter extracts, and exploring dietary strategies, metabolic biomarkers and microbiome signatures associated with heat tolerance in lactating sows. Together with colleagues at The University of Melbourne (Professor Frank Dunshea) and UQ (Professor Mike Gidley, Associate Professor Pat Blackall), and industry support from APRIL, DSM Nutritional Products and SunPork Pty Ltd., Professor Roura secured an ARC-Linkage grant in 2020 (commencing 2021) investigating how to make antibiotics in pig feed redundant, naturally.
This is an important project addressing issues related to antimicrobial use and resistance. The project’s approach is based on helping the physiology of the piglet rather than testing specific interventions against bacteria, and will consist of developing a novel nutritional strategy of naturally (through maternal conditioning) boosting the natural appetite and the capacity to digest in piglets early in life. The anticipated outcome is that the new perinatal program will result in minimal bacterial proliferation and diarrhoea thus, negating the need for in-feed antimicrobials in piglets.
In addition to being a busy and active researcher, in his spare time, Eugeni is an active Member of both the APRIL Research and Development Advisory Committee and the Education Advisory Committee, Member of the AgriFutures Chicken Meat Advisory Panel, Vice-Chairperson of the Board Specialty Committee of Mongolian Medicine, and Member of the International Steering Committee of the Digestive Physiology of Pigs. In particular, he was the co-Chair of the highly successful Digestive Physiology of Pigs 2018, held in Brisbane.
Important Dates
- The Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA) Biennial Conference will be held from 15-18 November 2021 in Brisbane, Australia (see: https://www.apsa.asn.au/ for more information).
- 1 September 2021; APRIL Nutrition Webinar
How much have our finisher pigs changed in composition over time?
Click here to read more. Feature article for Pork Journal written by Dr. Fan Liu, Dr. Roger Campbell, Professor Frank Dunshea and Dr. John Pluske.
APRIL News May 2021
Welcome to the second APRIL News for 2021.
I mentioned in last month’s Newsletter that the APRIL Board approved a number of Innovation Projects at its February meeting, as well as an Industry Priority Project. The five Innovation Projects (subject to any changes being approved) are:
- Investigating the impact of circulating creatine concentrations in gestation on vitality and survivability of low birthweight piglets (Dr Will van Wettere, The University of Adelaide);
- No pus please – real time detection of deep tissue abscesses in carcasses using lean meat yield estimation (Dr Darryl D’Souza, SunPork Pty Ltd.);
- Escaping the daily grind – coarser ground diets for improved foetal growth (Dr Kate Plush, SunPork Pty Ltd.);
- Novel aspirin supplementation during gestation to improve farrowing rate and piglet birth weight of sows mated in summer [Dr Fan Liu, Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd.];
- Brain measures of positive welfare in pigs (Professor Alan Tilbrook, The University of Queensland).
I look forward to these projects being finalised and underway.
The Industry Priority Project approved, submitted by Professor Tariq Ezaz from the University of Canberra (subject to changes being approved), is titled Developing high throughput molecular screening technique to detect reciprocal translocation in boars. This follows on from promising work revealed in a project funded by APRIL in its first investment round in 2018, examining the impacts of reciprocal chromosomal translocations in boars and its impacts on litter size.
This month’s Research Snapshot focuses on a project conducted at Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd. in conjunction with The University of Melbourne, assessing the relationships between digestible energy intake and performance and body composition changes in entire male and female pigs weighing between 60-108 kg using a DXA, or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, scanner, in a modern genotype. Further details can be found later in the Newsletter.
Our Member Focus this edition is on Associate Professor Sam Abraham, from Murdoch University. Dr Abraham is known to many of us in the industry, and please read on for further information.
Finally, a friendly reminder to Project Leaders about some reporting procedures and practices. Project Leaders should be aware that it is an obligation under the Research Deed, signed off by all participating organisations in a project, to report quarterly to APRIL on projects. If your project is going to encounter difficulties or you wish to discuss a change, please contact either myself or Dr Rikard-Bell first and don’t leave it to a quarterly report to notify us, especially one that is in arrears, because that can sometimes make financial planning and facility utilisation difficult and have unforeseen consequences. In this respect, please be aware that invoices submitted to APRIL for payment not accompanied by the corresponding reports will not be paid.
Sincerely,
Dr. John Pluske
CEO/Chief Scientist
M: 0410 436 871
E: j.pluske@april.org.au
www.april.org.au
Research and Innovation

I thought I would bring you up to date with two large project applications that APRIL is involved in that address the Transformation Projects outlined in the Strategic Plan. The first, with APRIL as a Partner Organisation, is an Australian Research Council-Linkage application submitted through Murdoch University (chief investigators Associate Professor Sam Abraham, Murdoch University; Professor Darren Trott, The University of Adelaide) titled Novel approaches for combating critically important antimicrobial resistance development in pigs. This project also involves inputs and collaboration from Australian Pork Limited, Feedworks, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd., Statens Serum Institut (Denmark), SunPork Pty Ltd, the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. The outcome of this application should be known in the next 4-8 weeks.
The second project addresses the elimination of the need for tail docking in Australasian pork production systems. In late March, an application was submitted to the Cooperative Research Centre-Projects (CRC-P) program titled Eliminating pig tail removal to improve welfare and industry sustainability, to address this priority. The application requested an Australian Government investment of $2,892,374, which combined with the project partner’s cash contribution of $1,638,742, seeks to leverage $3,345,078 of combined in-kind contributions from the partners. Partners in the project are SunPork P/L (Lead Applicant), APRIL, Australian Pork Limited, PIC Australasia P/L, Rivalea (Australia) P/L, RSPCA Australia, The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland, and the University of New England. An announcement on the outcome would be expected late June/early July this year.
One of APRIL’s strategic imperatives is to seek leverage of its funds against additional investment in priority research, education and training, and commercialisation programs to achieve necessary scale for key industry outcomes. These applications are good examples of that potential leverage capability. In this regard, APRIL is pleased to announce a continuation of its Kickstart program for the 2021/22 financial year, a program aimed at providing seed funding to a researcher (or researchers) to assemble a project submission that seeks significant external funding. The submission to the Australian Research Council-Linkage scheme arose from a Kickstart application. More details of the scheme can be found at https://apri.com.au/research/funding-opportunities/, or by contacting Dr John Pluske. Applications are open at any time.
A new initiative supported by the APRIL Board at its April meeting is the APRIL Innovation Prize. This award will seek to encourage on-farm innovation amongst members, to boost on-farm technology use and adoption. Further details will be announced soon, but the overall intention is to encourage development (invention) and adoption of innovations to improve on-farm performance and (or) producer-led innovations resulting in new products, new methodologies etc., in areas related to APRIL’s Strategic Plan.
Education and Training

A reminder to everyone that applications for the APRIL Industry Placement Program (IPP) Award scheme are still open and close 21 May 2021, with the final date for decisions being late June to early July 2021. Applications must be lodged electronically by the applying business organisation, and include the name and qualifications of the proposed candidate, to Dr. John Pluske at j.pluske@april.org.au. See http://apri.com.au/education/ for more information and the application form.
The overall aims of the IPP are to (1) retain graduates trained by APRIL, the Pork CRC, Australian Pork Limited, and (or) other applicable organisations, at the Honours and (or) postgraduate level, and attract others to the Australasian pork industry, by sponsoring their placement in a commercial pork production organisation or an affiliated business within the Australasian pork industry in a structured and enhanced development program; (2) attract and stimulate graduates with an interest in pork production into the business side of the industry as a career, while continuing their development and understanding of how research and technology will enhance industry competitiveness and success; and (3) expose graduates wanting a long-term research or technical support role in the industry to commercial aspects of pork production and enhance their contributions and value to pork businesses in their future roles.
Commercialisation
The APRIL Commercialisation Advisory Panel (ACAP) was announced in the last Newslettter. This is a new initiative from APRIL that will provide not only a sounding board for a potential commercialisation opportunity to an Innovator, but also allow us to preview potential commercialisation ideas and opportunities prior to a formal application for support. Use of the ACAP to review potential commercialisation opportunities will provide an Innovator(s) with industry insights, possible barriers the idea will need to overcome, and suggestions that will improve the pathways to commercialisation and adoption. We hope that the process will increase the number and improve the chances of commercialisation projects coming to fruition, and assist in maintaining a healthy innovative commercial pipeline for APRIL with benefits to industry.
The Panel will convene again this month to review some interesting ideas that have potential commercial applications. If you have an idea for the ACAP or wish to discuss in more detail how the ACAP functions, please contact Dr Charles Rikard-Bell, Commercialisation and Research Impact Manager (c.rikardbell@april.org.au 0439 513 723).
Research Snapshot
A Final Report has been received from Dr Fan Liu [Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd.] and colleagues at Rivalea and The University of Melbourne. This project (A3A-102) examined relationships between digestible energy intake and performance and body composition changes in entire male and female pigs weighing between 60-108 kg using a DXA, or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, scanner, in a modern genotype (PrimegroTM Genetics, Corowa, NSW, Australia). Quantifying energy requirements for expressing lean tissue (muscle) deposition potential in finisher pigs will help nutritionists set daily energy allowances to maximise lean tissue growth without excessive fat deposition, thereby optimising the price producers receive for their pigs. Considerable body composition analysis using the DXA scanner was conducted at the start and end of the study, and then pigs were slaughtered in a commercial abattoir where the HSCW (Australian Trim 1 standard) and P2 backfat thickness and loin depth were measured.
The most significant finding from the study was in the amount of whole-body fat and P2 backfat thickness, with there being 16% and 15% less body fat in entire males and females, respectively, and a 22% and 15% lower P2 backfat thickness in entire males and females, respectively. These changes presumably reflect the emphasis on selection for backfat depth reduction that has occurred over time. Importantly, protein deposition rate of entire male and female pigs in the carcase both increased linearly with increased energy intake in the tested range. Carcass P2 backfat thickness increased linearly in response to the increased daily energy intake in male pigs but not in female pigs.
It is important to point out that these findings reflect those of this particular genotype and the conditions of the study (individually-housed pigs reared under good conditions), hence it is likely that other genotypes will respond differently to the energy levels used in this project. Indeed, other factors such as housing and environmental conditions (e.g., outdoor versus indoor), immunocastration, time of the year, target carcase weight and P2 (if appropriate), stocking density and feeding regimens need also to be considered when determining nutrient and energy requirements. Nevertheless, the information from this project does provide new information for the industry, and it does show the change over time in pigs’ body composition as a result of genetic selection.
Check the APRIL website,https://apri.com.au/research/final-reports/, for more details on this project, as well as other Final Reports and Project Summaries.
Member Focus

Dr Sam Abraham (S.Abraham@murdoch.edu.au) is Associate Professor of Microbiology in the College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. Sam grew up in Kerala, south-west India, and in 2006 received a BSc Zoology from Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala. Sam then moved to the University of Wollongong to undertake a Masters in Biotechnology and subsequently completed a PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Biology from the University of Wollongong in 2012, undertaking his research at the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Research Institute, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. In 2012, Sam moved to The University of Adelaide to undertake a post-doctoral research fellowship in antimicrobial resistance with Professor Darren Trott, and along with Professor Trott established the First National Network on Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance in Australian Animals. In 2015, Dr Abraham joined Murdoch University, where he currently leads the Antimicrobial Resistance and Infectious Diseases (AMRID) laboratory (https://www.amrid.com.au).
The AMRID laboratory is a next-generation research facility at Murdoch University designed to modernise and innovate approaches to the surveillance and management of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and infectious diseases spanning humans, animals and the environment. A hallmark of the AMRID research is use of custom-built, high-throughput robotics platforms. The flagship platform, RASP, was designed to erode longstanding constraints to the scalability of AMR and disease surveillance and has played a central role in several national AMR surveillance programs in livestock. Key pork-related projects underway in the Laboratory include two APRIL-supported projects, “Novel approaches for reducing antimicrobial resistant and pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria in the porcine gut” and “Development of a Streptococcus suis vaccine via measurement of immune responses to four different Streptococcus suis vaccine preparations, using an Australian cps2 ST25 strain”, and the Laboratory has also conducted research for Australian Pork Limited including clarification of the origin and ecological reservoir of unusual forms of critically important antimicrobial resistant E. coli in Australian pigs. Services offered by AMRID Include antimicrobial resistance surveillance, non-notifiable disease investigation, whole genome sequencing and drug discovery. These are vital projects for the Australian pork industry addressing this important topic.
Important Dates
- Applications for the APRIL Industry Placement Program close on 21 May, 2021 (https://apri.com.au/education/).
- The Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition in Australia (RAAN) meeting will be held on the Gold Coast (voco Surfers Paradise) June 9-11, 2021 (https://www.raan.com.au).
The Australasian Pig Science Association (APSA) Biennial Conference will be held from 15-18 November 2021 in Brisbane, Australia (see: https://www.apsa.asn.au/ for more information).