annual report 09/10 - Apri.com.au

Research Program ReportsThe Pork CRC will continue to actively monitor developments in this area to identify opportunitiesfor alternative ingredients in pig diets that may be available for the pork industry in Australia. Twopotential ingredients for pig diets have been identified recently, algae and mustard meal, and theseingredients may be further evaluated for pigs within the Pork CRC.Brassica juncea (Mustard) has been bred as a crop for low rainfall regions in Australia, producinga seed with similar properties to that of traditional canola. Increasing areas of the crop have beenplanted in the last 12 months, with approximately 13,000 hectares planted across 3 states in 2010.There is currently interest in the use of B. juncea oil for bio-diesel production in southern Australia,and as such the remaining meal may be available for use in animal diets. Given the similarity of B.juncea meal to traditional canola meal, there is the potential to utilize this product as an alternativeprotein meal in pig diets.Algae are also a potential nutrient source for livestock diets. There has been increased interest inAustralia for the potential use of algae to assist in capturing CO 2gas emissions and improving wastewater treatment. Ideally a closed production system that produces algae grown in piggery effluentsystems that can then be processed and fed to pigs would be an efficient and sustainable system toproduce a novel feed source for pork production. Algae species have relatively high protein levels,and depending upon their amino acid content and digestibility, may be a potential nutrient sourcefor pig diets. From previous studies, algae have been included in pig diets at levels up to about 10 -20%. As algae samples become available from developing pilot plants in Australia, the suitability ofalgae for pigs may be examined within this subprogram of the Pork CRC.Example of an Algae BioReactor33