Industry Training Update
Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment
Suzanne McInerney from Country Range Farming near Toowoomba has received her Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment – congratulations to Suzanne. The Poultry CRC sponsored the fees for Suzanne’s training and Country Range Farming sponsored her time to complete the training. Two other industry personnel have almost completed the same certificate, with sponsorship from the Poultry CRC.
Postgraduate/Postdoctoral/Intern Update
The Poultry CRC Postgraduate Presentation Award for the best postgraduate presentation at the Australian Poultry Science Symposium was won by Mr. Mohammedreza (Reza) Abdollahi from Massey University for his presentation “Influence of pelleting temperature on the performance and nutrient utilisation of broiler starters”. There were eight presentations from a total of six postgraduates competing for the award. A panel of 9 judges assessed the presentations for both the quality of the presentation (introduction to topic, quality of visual aids, voice quality, capturing and retention of audience interest, flow of ideas, time management) and the quality of the content of the presentation (logical development of ideas, critical evaluation of the work, ability to answer questions, overall understanding of the work). Although there can be only one official winner, all the participants are winners for completing their studies and giving such good presentations of their results.
Danielle Handcock has now submitted her Report arising from her Poultry CRC Undergraduate Internship. Congratulations, Danielle. Undergraduate and Postgraduate Internships are still available so please contact me if you are interested.
Revision of Murrumbidgee College Poultry Training Manuals
Health and Welfare Manuals
The texts of the Commercial Meat Chicken Management Health and Welfare and the Commercial Layer Management Health and Welfare manuals have now been fully updated with the assistance of poultry veterinarian Dr. Tom Grimes.
Commercial Meat Chicken Management Manual
New revised booklets in Managing Meat Breeders and Hatchery Management have now been drafted by Ms Emma Daley, formerly of Inghams Enterprises.
Commercial Layer Management Manual
Dr Irene Gorman, formerly R&D Manager at AECL, has revised sections of this manual with input from Mr. Rowly Horn and Mr Geof Runge. Revised booklets on Hatchery Management, Brooding Chicks, Rearing Layer Breeders, Rearing Commercial Layer Pullets, Quality Assurance, Managing business finances, and Managing Staff are now available for review.
If you are associated with the Australian egg industry and would like to review any of these manuals or booklets, please let me know and I will send a copy to you.
Egg Invest
EggInvest is a spreadsheet developed by the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries designed to assist in the preliminary investigation of future investment in egg production. Visit the DPI web site to download the spreadsheet and a users’ guide.
For more information about EggInvest, please contact: Mr Greg Mills, Livestock Officer – Industry Development, Intensive Industries, NSW DPI, PO Box 209 Moree NSW 2400, M. 0488 491 648, P. (02) 67506312, F. (02) 67524859
Integrated compliance business risk management system for the agri-food industry
Agri-Food Skills Australia has produced a training program that will give primary producers, agri-food enterprises and registered training organisations vital assistance in managing the diversity of regulatory risk in agribusiness now and into the future. The following compliance risks will be addressed through the use of an integrated system: Environmental Management; Animal Welfare; Food Safety; and Occupational Health and Safety.
All the materials for this training program are available for free either online at the Agri-Food Skills website or on CD. Email Peter Clack to obtain a CD. I sent off for the CD and the materials are very good.
Schools update
On February 19, I attended a meeting of the Primary Industries Network in Uralla, near Armidale to give a presentation about what the Poultry CRC Education Program is doing to assist schools to incorporate information about the poultry industry into their teaching. Some of the teachers were very enthusiastic about the resources that we have sent to them.
Resources Under Development
We are investigating the development of a resource to assist industry with documentation of evidence for recognition of prior learning (RPL) and also for keeping track of the training programs of individual personnel. Such a resource needs to be easy to use and available to all industry personnel and their Registered Training Organisations (RTOs).
New Books
The following (relatively) new books may be of interest to some people:
- Rauw, W. 2008. Resource allocation theory applied to farm animal production. CABI Publishing. ISBN 9781845933944. AUD $210.78 inc GST, AUD $191.62 ex GST. http://www.dadirect.com
- Cherry, P. Morris, T. R. 2008. Domestic duck production : science and practice. CABI Publishing. ISBN 9780851990545 AUD $161.18 inc GST, AUD $146.53 ex GST. http://www.dadirect.com
- Klenk, Hans-Dieter Matrosovich, Mikhail N. Stech, Jurgen.(Ed). 2008. Avian Influenza. S Karger AG ISBN 9783805585019 AUD $378.42 inc GST, AUD $344.02 ex GST. http://www.dadirect.com
- Swayne, D.E. (Ed). 2008. Avian influenza. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1397808138 p2047-7/2008. US$120. www.amazon.com
- Viroj, Wiwanitkit. 2008. Bird flu: the new emerging infectious disease. Nova Science Publishers Inc. ISBN 9781604562385. A$215.09 (incl GST). http://www.dadirect.com
