Page 7 - National Poultry Newspaper

Queensland United Egg Producers annual general meeting
■ November 26
by JOHN COWARD CEO
QUEENSLAND United Egg Produc- ers Pty Ltd will hold its AGM on No- vember 26, 2019 by Teleconference from 9-11am.
Members will be provided dial in detail prior to the meeting.
The teleconference will allow members to attend without travel impacts.
The invitation to the general meeting is extended for other Queensland egg farm- ers interested in becom- ing QUEP members.
Call the number be- low for more informa- tion.
Agenda items will include a report from the chairman and
CEO, together with the treasurers report.
The meeting has called for interested persons in holding directors’ position on the board and encour- ages any member to discuss this important role with the CEO for further details.
Egg Farmers of Aus- tralia CEO Melinda Hashimoto will also attend the AGM and present an update on the key activities of EFA including stand- ards and guidelines developments and the National SE Program as well as market ac- tivity.
For any more infor- mation, contact me on 0407 622 166.
AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program researcher spotlight: Dr Amy Moss
DR A my Moss is a post- doctoral fellow research- ing nutritional strategies to improve the efficiency and sustainability of chicken-meat production at the University of New England.
Producing feed for broil- ers is the primary cost of chicken-meat production, so it is critical the nutri- ent specifications of feed ingredients are accurately determined.
With project funding from AgriFutures Chick- en Meat Program, Dr Moss is compiling a data- base of nutrient specifica- tions for common Aus- tralian feed ingredients used in poultry diets to aggregate the most up-to- date information available into one resource.
Importantly, this data- base will also highlight ingredients and nutrients that are lacking data or are highly variable and require further charac- terisation by companies or upcoming research projects to ensure future nutrient specifications are improved.
Feed constitutes more than 70 percent of live broiler production costs in Australia.
The formulation of op- timal cost-efficient diets that meet the nutritional requirements is critical and nutrient specifica- tions of feed ingredients must be accurately deter- mined.
Databases used by Aus- tralian poultry nutrition- ists to determine nutrient specifications have various sources and cross-checks of each figure contained within a database, which is tedious and costly.
In addition, the deter- mination and use of some nutrients has been con- stantly evolving (for ex- ample, total calcium to digestible calcium), while other nutrients are lacking recent data.
This database will pro- vide poultry nutritionists, industry and research- ers with an up-to-date resource compiling 102 nutrient specifications for 42 Australian feed ingre- dients in the one database.
This database also iden- tifies the feed ingredients and nutrients currently lacking in sample num- bers, or that contain a high variability, and are in need of further analysis and study.
It is expected this data- base will greatly improve the accuracy of feed for- mulation, in turn improv- ing the efficiency and profitability of the Aus- tralian chicken-meat in- dustry.
Why did you get in- volved in the project?
“As a poultry scientist, I am passionate about pro- viding the industry with accurate and meaning- ful data to help improve chicken-meat produc- tion,” Dr Moss said.
“Through discussions with industry, I became aware of the issues faced by poultry nutritionists and in particular a lack of resources and insufficient time to compile updated specifications to compare and decide on an accurate figure.
“This is particularly difficult when Australian data may be lacking.
“I am excited to provide this resource to industry to improve the certainty around nutrient specifica- tions and help nutrition- ists produce more precise diet formulations.”
How will this research benefit the poultry in- dustry?
“This database will permit more robust nu- trient specifications and a more precise diet for- mulation as nutritionists will have convenient ac- cess to multiple nutrient specifications within one resource,” Dr Moss said.
“The database will al- so evaluate the variation within the data and reveal the extent to which the data is reliable/accurate.
“Consequently, this will improve the predictability and efficiency of chicken- meat production.
“It also highlights areas where Australian feed in- gredient data is lacking in sample numbers or areas where data is inconsist- ent and requires further research and provides di- rection and priorities for
future Australian research and source companies, who are eager to collect more data, provided de- mand for particular ingre- dients is shown.
“This project dem- onstrates what can be achieved when poultry integrators, the broader industry and researchers work together towards a common goal – to im- prove the productivity of the Australian chicken- meat industry.
“It is an excellent exam- ple of collaboration and co-operation across the chicken-meat sector.” What’s the best piece
of professional/career advice you’ve ever been given?
“To listen to industry
and communicate with them to ensure your re- search is applicable to Australian industry prac- tice,” Dr Moss said.
“If your research cannot be applied in a practical sense somewhere down the line, what is the point of doing the research?
“You need to ensure your research can benefit industry and the society we live in.
“This is particularly im- portant for early career researchers to ensure they build strong networks early on, which will bring them many opportunities throughout their career.”
Read more about Ag- riFutures Chicken Meat Program at agrifutures. com.au/chicken-meat
View our full range of climate control, floor equipment, structures, layer equipment and incubation systems on our website
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07 3829 3242 ausagservices.com.au
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National Poultry Newspaper, November 2019 – Page 7
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