Business and Finance Manager Patrick Derham will prepare the financial statements for the year and help with two annual reports and the third year review.

Recent results from one of Pork CRC’s Feedlogic systems trials in a 1000 head grower/finisher facility confirmed the importance of concentrating on feed efficiency in late finishing and the role metabolism modifiers, such as Paylean and PST, have in improving overall feed efficiency and profit, especially right now when producers are impacted by high grain and feed costs.

Initial results showed that over the last four weeks of growth or from 70 to 100kg, the pigs consumed between 35 and 40% of the total feed likely to be used from weaning to 100kg, reports Ferret.

Feed efficiency during the period was improved by about 33% by Paylean (5ppm) for the 28 day period and PST during the last 14 days.

The results and implications will be available as soon as they have been written up but they confirm earlier studies in more experimental or ideal conditions and the effects of age/weight on feed usage and costs covered in the October 2007 edition of InnovatE.

The bottom line is that the pig becomes the major constraint on the efficiency of production and feed usage in late finishing and improvements of the magnitude seen in the different studies have the potential to reduceHerd Feed Conversion (HFC) by as much as 10% and reduce overhead costs. The cost effectiveness of the different strategies developed to date will be considered but it does not matter how the improvements are made because the impacts are large. They will develop a programme around performance improvements in late finishing ensuring effective use of the feed systems Pork CRC has invested in.

Pork CRC are working with Australian Pork Limited (APL) to further enhance communication of research findings to producers by initiating a national seminar series, covering all states, commencing November 2008.