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New APRIL Industry Placement Program awardee starts at Rivalea

Posted on 23 March 202112 April 2021 by admin

March 2021: APRIL is pleased to announce that Dr Maria Jorquera-Chavez has commenced her Industry Placement Program with Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd. in Corowa, New South Wales.

Dr. Maria Jorquera-Chavez has recently joined Rivalea (Australia) Pty Ltd. in the position of Research Scientist. She has a degree in Veterinary Science, a Master of Animal Sciences, and recently completed her PhD with The University of Melbourne in the use of computer vision techniques for monitoring health and early detection of illness in grower-finisher pigs.

Dr. Jorquera-Chavez will assist in developing and implementing research programs, particularly in the areas of new technology, health and welfare. Maria is participating in an APRIL-funded project addressing the implementation of thermal imagery to predict lactation performance and monitor the health status of sows.

Dr. Jorquera-Chavez will also coordinate future experiments as principal investigator addressing the use of new technologies and management practices to monitor and improve the health and welfare of pigs.

From the Chief Scientist/CEO (October 2020)

Posted on 26 October 20202 November 2020 by admin

Innovation Projects

APRIL received a total of 20 applications for the recent funding call for Innovation Projects. Thank you to those that submitted an application (or applications). A number of the applications do look truly innovative, whilst I think it is probably fair to say that other applications missed the mark in addressing the “out of the box” ideas we are looking for, that potentially will deliver smart, new approaches to tackle current and emerging issues and challenges for the Australasian pork industry.

We will start to work through the review and approval processes and hope to be able to make an announcement of the successful projects in due course.

Commercialisation Projects

Just a reminder that APRIL’s Commercialisation Projects scheme is open all year round. Commercialisation Projects address the issue where the path to market of a product or technology may be close and additional co-investment, that would commonly include other investors, may bring it to fruition. Such projects require a co-investment external contribution of 20% of the total cash project cost, which is negotiable. Duration is also negotiable if beyond 12-18 months. Commercialisation income is a clear imperative for the future of APRIL, hence supporting industry-applicable projects in this domain is critical.

In the new year, APRIL is planning on holding a virtual event involving a number of producer members as they present some of the challenges that they would like APRIL to address, and what makes for a successful commercialisation project proposal. The event will include opportunities for networking with the presenters and road-testing your research ideas.

Kickstart Funding

I am pleased to say we have received a number of Expressions of Interest in response to the announcement last month concerning the Kickstart program. As mentioned then, the Kickstart Program is a new initiative that can provide some funding for an individual/organisation(s) to assist with the preparation and submission of a specific, targeted and agreed major external funding application (or applications) in association with APRIL and other partners. Significant external funding pools exist both nationally and internationally for potential investment.

The Kickstart Program aims to increase the number of applications that are prepared and submitted to external funding organisations that ultimately increase the funding pool to undertake more of APRIL’s activities, in alignment with APRIL’s Transformational Project and Industry Priority Project priorities.

COVID-19 Update

The coronavirus pandemic continues, unfortunately, to impact on some of APRIL’s activities, albeit that the majority of projects have been able to continue thanks to the resilience and resourcefulness of some of our investigators and collaborators. I sincerely appreciate the efforts such people have gone to under trying and difficult circumstances.

APRIL remains in contact with all Project Leaders regarding impacts of COVID-19 that might affect the progress of their project(s). Unavoidably, delays/disruption for some of our projects have occurred and will likely do so into the future. These, in turn, will affect milestones and deliverables and the communication of outcomes to the industry.

Research Project Reporting

Project Leaders should be aware that being awarded a research project with APRIL comes with it a number of contractual responsibilities, namely a quarterly Progress Report and a quarterly Cash Expenditure Report (from the Project Leader’s organisation), amongst others. It is important for APRIL to be able to suitably monitor projects and be able to respond to any issues that might arise in a timely manner, e.g., requests for variations. I send a reminder out every quarter about this and will continue to do so as I appreciate that our researchers are busy. Funds will not be paid against a project without an approved quarterly Progress Report that details progress against milestones and deliverables, and a Cash Expenditure Report.

Finally, and as mentioned previously, 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 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.

John Pluske (j.pluske@april.org.au)

[NOW CLOSED] Education and Training Awards (October 2020)

Posted on 26 October 202018 January 2021 by admin

To build upon APRIL’s current research and education and training investments, APRIL will be seeking more applications to support its education program and assist in further building human capacity for the Australasian pork 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.

Eligibility varies according to the different scheme being applied for. The Guidelines associated with each opportunity should be read thoroughly before starting/submitting an application.

Information concerning the different education opportunities from APRIL, including Guidelines and application forms, can be found on the Education page.

Completed applications should reach APRIL by the closing date, and the outcomes will be announced after the closing date. 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.

Applications should be lodged electronically to Dr Charles Rikard-Bell at (email), c.rikardbell@april.org.au. Questions on any of the Awards should be directed to Professor John Pluske at (email), j.pluske@april.org.au, or 0410 436871.

Important dates

Applications open: 19 October 2020
Applications close: 15 January 2021

Research Snapshot: ‘healthy pork’ resources

Posted on 26 October 20202 November 2020 by admin

The Final Report for project 3B-114, Development of a ‘healthy pork’ resource for use by consumers, health professionals and regulatory bodies: summary and dissemination of Pork CRC human nutrition research, has been received.

The Cooperative Research Centre for High Integrity Australian Pork (Pork CRC), which operated from 2005 to 2019, funded 16 projects under the ‘Healthy Pork Consumption’ program (Inherent Properties of Australian Pork to Enhance Consumer Health), with the aims to explore potential health benefits of pork and drivers and barriers to pork consumption. A compilation of this work, titled Development of a ‘healthy pork’ resource for use by consumers, health professionals and regulatory bodies: summary and dissemination of Pork CRC human nutrition research, was completed recently through APRIL by Dr Karen Murphy, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Food Sciences and Accredited Practicing Dietitian, at the University of South Australia.

The main purposes of the project were to first, assimilate the scientifically substantiated information on the nutritional properties and health benefits of including fresh lean pork in a diet for consideration in regard to dietary guidelines and diet and health-related messages; and second, apply this research to educate dietitians and health professionals on the benefits and lack of adverse effects of consuming fresh lean pork as part of a healthy dietary pattern.

The report is wide-ranging, covering the breadth and depth of projects that were conducted during the Pork CRC, and summarised studies that, for example, examined commonly consumed pork cuts to determine if there had been any changes in their key nutritional composition compared to 2006; research examining the role of pork in improving muscle mass, body strength and cognitive function in elderly people; a study exploring the health benefits of pork consumption in diets of Australian children; and research studying the effect of a Mediterranean diet with fresh lean Australian pork on a number of health-related parameters in high risk individuals.

In summarising the research conducted, Dr Murphy commented that there are a number of positive attributes for fresh pork that could be used to the benefit of the industry to contribute further to the increase in fresh pork consumption seen recently. “This research showed that there were no adverse effects of fresh pork consumption, but it may help with cardiometabolic health and blood pressure management of type 2 diabetes, weight loss, and preservation of cognition as part of a healthy dietary pattern. Including fresh lean pork in a healthy dietary pattern, in moderation, fits with latest dietary guidelines for good health”.

A Summary of the Final Report is available from the Final Reports page.

[NOW CLOSED] Call for applications: Education

Posted on 22 October 202018 January 2021 by admin

To build upon APRIL’s current research and education and training investments, APRIL is currently 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.

For full details and to download the application forms and guidelines, please refer to the Funding Opportunities page.

Applications open: 19 October 2020
Applications close: 15 January 2021

[NOW CLOSED] Applications for APRIL Innovation Projects

Posted on 25 August 20207 October 2020 by admin

APRIL was pleased to announce an open, competitive call for applications for its Innovation Projects scheme.

Please refer to the Funding Opportunities page for further details. Applications for Innovation Projects closed 2 October 2020.

New APRIL Industry Placement Program awardee starts at the SunPork Group

Posted on 19 August 20202 November 2020 by admin

APRIL is pleased to announce that Lauren Staveley has commenced her Industry Placement Program with the SunPork Group in South Australia.

a young woman dressed in a dark blue coverall holding a piglet on a farm — IPP awardee Lauren Staveley

Lauren began her interactions with the pork industry in her second year of undergraduate Animal Science studies at The University of Adelaide through the Pork CRC student placement program, where she was placed at the McMahons McPiggery in Lameroo. After a brief detour into sheep parasitology (Honours project), Lauren worked as a Technical Officer at The University of Adelaide for Dr Will van Wettere, spending most of her time on sow reproduction and welfare projects. This eventually led to Lauren commencing a PhD focussed on the potential use of a suite of early (pre-weaning) indicators to aid in the selection of replacement gilts, titled Conception to culling – effective management of the gilt to optimise reproduction and longevity. The main aim of her postgraduate studies is to reduce the high replacement rate of sows in Australian breeder herds. Lauren plans to submit her PhD thesis within the next 6 months.

Lauren currently works for the SunPork Group as a production Management Trainee based at a 5,000 sow breeder farm. Lauren has already been exposed to many aspects and production stages of the business; however, Lauren said that the APRIL Industry Placement Program awardwill allow her to gain more in-depth knowledge of pork production whilst facilitating her involvement in reproduction and welfare experiments. The Industry Placement Program will provide Lauren with the opportunity to question and evaluate current production practices, and she looks forward to developing a greater understanding of pork production and research.

A message from the Chair: July 2020

Posted on 28 July 202011 August 2020 by admin

Welcome to this edition of the APRIL Newsletter.

I would like to update everyone in relation to some issues arising from APRIL Board meetings held in April and June.

At the Board meeting held in April, the Board accepted a majority of the recommendations from the Research and Development (R&D) Advisory Committee for funding of Industry Priority and Transformational Projects – but not all of them. There were a number of issues arising that the Board felt it had to disagree with concerning the recommendations. Broadly, these fell into a couple of categories. First, there were concerns about some projects where joint funding with Australian Pork Limited was contemplated but not agreed upon, and second, a few projects fell into a category of essentially “product testing” where the Board felt APRIL investment was not warranted or of marginal value.

The APRIL Board never intends becoming a “rubber stamp” to the recommendations of the R&D Advisory Committee, but nor do we want to routinely reject projects that have already had so much work put into them. Besides the obvious work of the researchers/research teams in writing up significant proposals, APRIL is privileged to have a very willing group of reviewers. Some projects have had as many as 10 scientific reviews before reaching the R&D Advisory Committee Subcommittee, then the full R&D Advisory Committee, and then the Board, and yet the Board has not felt confident to invest in them. Why is this happening?

The Board decided on three actions to try and make the process smoother in the future. These are:

Undertake a review of the APRIL processes associated with the submission of research projects. We have now completed this internal review and at its June meeting, the Board has asked the CEO to introduce a preliminary research proposal (if applicable) to provide an opportunity for feedback before researchers or reviewers have put in many hours of effort; we have also decided to discontinue the R&D Advisory Committee Subcommittee. We felt this step would empower the full R&D Advisory Committee and eliminate “double handling” of the applications;
Greater coordination between APRIL and APL. Margo Andrae, John Pluske and I will look at how we might achieve tighter coordination of projects where APRIL and APL have a common interest. A number of issues arose in the Industry Priority and Transformational Project applications including possible duplication of past or current work; differing views on the relative importance to industry (both where proposals to the APRIL Board were deemed to be making a relatively simple issue into a significant and costly one, and where only a small project was addressing an issue that warrants a whole program of coordinated investment); and on budget approaches. APL has moved to appoint a Director of Research and Innovation, and the APRIL Chief Scientist/CEO will work closely with that person once in place.
Encouraging stronger feedback mechanisms. In this funding round, on every occasion that the Board rejected a proposal, someone had already raised our concern before it made it to the Board. Should we allow for a period of adjustment to research proposals in light of the feedback from the reviewers and/or R&D Advisory Committee? We tend to be asking our Chief Scientist to take on board too much of the feedback to develop projects, and not distinguishing between feedback that is simply helpful in project development (“you need to include another experimental treatment”) versus feedback that should either stop the proposal or trigger a major re-think (“you can buy that in Europe today” or “APL already has that information”). We need everyone involved in the process to feel empowered enough to speak up if a project proposal needs a serious re-think. In this regard, the Board is encouraging every member of the R&D Advisory Committee to voice any concerns. Managers within APRIL and APL are in a good position to see duplication or under- or over-investment in an area, and we are encouraging them to be proactive and voice concerns.

In other news, the Board was pleased with the development of the CRC-P application and the Australian Research Council-Linkage application, and felt there was real expertise and deep thinking applied to the challenges raised in the Strategic Plan. We were delighted with the successful outcome of the Linkage application and obviously disappointed by the failure of the CRC-P application to be funded. However, the CRC-P round was hyper-competitive and APRIL’s application was rated in the top quartile. It can be worked on and resubmitted for the next round, which should open very soon.

In personal news, I have resigned my full-time role with the Cooperative Research Centres’ Association (CRC-A). I hit the 10-year mark and felt it was time for someone else to take over. From now until Christmas, I’ll go part time with the CRC-A as we search for a replacement. I expect the move will give me more time for the APRIL role, and I’ll look at a few other non-executive roles.

Dr Tony Peacock
APRIL Chair