Background

The project, ‘Enhancing supply chain profitability through reporting and utilisation of peri-mortem information’ (Health 4 Wealth) is one of the seventeen projects that received funding from the Commonwealth Government under Round 2 of the Rural Research and Development for Profit Program. The project aims to develop a standardised approach to data collection on disease-related carcass and offal condemnations and develop a nationally agreed, consistent feedback system to beef, goatmeat, pork and sheepmeat producers. It is envisaged the new system will allow producers to monitor disease prevalence in their livestock and make informed decisions to maximise yield outcomes.

The objectives of the Health 4 Wealth project are to:
• Develop a business case for a peri-mortem data capture and reporting system that meets the needs of stakeholders across the beef, goatmeat, pork and sheepmeat supply chains.
• Develop standards and software that can be used to collect and consistently report diseaserelated carcase and offal condemnations (total and partial) during ante- and post-mortem inspection.
• Conduct validation studies to identify challenges or barriers to implementation and recommend solutions prior to rollout of the national system.
• Implement a national extension and adoption strategy to allow standardised data collection and reporting systems to be integrated into Australia’s beef, goatmeat, pork and sheepmeat supply chains.
• Provide data to support on-going risk assessments of inspection procedures.

The project is a partnership between Australian Pork Limited (APL), Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), Australian Meat Processor Corporation, Agriculture Victoria (AgVic) and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI).

Project management

A Project Management Committee comprising of representatives of AMPC, APL and MLA has been established. The role of the Project Steering Management Committee is to manage the Health 4 Wealth project to ensure it is accountable to the respective livestock industries providing funding. proposals.

Project requirements
PROJECT – Development and implementation of a national animal health and disease extension and adoption strategy

Project aim

To support the Health 4 Wealth programme, an animal health and disease extension and adoption strategy needs to be developed to support the peri-mortem data capture and delivery system. This project will consist of two key pieces of work;
1. Undertake a gap analysis to:
a. map and identify animal health and disease extension and adoption programmes, tools and resources already available to producers for beef, pork and sheepmeat to support them with their animal disease feedback.
b. clearly identify gaps within these resources which need to be addressed.

2. Based on the above, develop a national animal health and disease extension and adoption plan for beef, pork and sheepmeat.

Project objectives
1. Undertake a gap analysis to identify any animal health and disease extension and adoption programs, tools and resources available for beef, pork and sheepmeat. This will include:
a. An assessment of which programs are still active/up to date.
b. An assessment of the programs’ relative success/effectiveness based on monitoring and evaluation already completed.
c. Mapping the available programs/resources across the specified categories to understand the existing or potential learning pathway. Categories are listed below and more information on the definition of each can be found from page 6 of the

Producer Adoption Outcomes Report.
i. Awareness activities: for example, field days, forums, webinars, newsletters, articles, podcasts.
ii. Short Term Training Programs and Workshops: building producers’ knowledge and skills by participating in training activities like workshops or electronic learning modules.
iii. Long Term Practice Change and capability building: more intensive programs perhaps using small groups, producers learning from other producers, and application of new knowledge is supported over the longer term. Mix of theory and hands on implementation.
iv. Enablers: for example, tools and calculators.
d. Assessment of human resource capacity within the industry. For example, are there enough suitable service providers in industry to deliver what is needed and if not, recommend how this be addressed.

2. Development of a draft animal health and disease extension and adoption strategy for beef, pork and sheepmeat that industry can use to support animal disease feedback through the value chain to the producer. This will include:
a. Clear outline of the target audiences, what will be adopted, value propositions for all target audiences and tactics.
b. Mapping a practical pathway to drive adoption of animal health disease and defect data standards and feedback systems in partnership with processors and software vendors.
c. Engagement with Meat Inspection Services to:
i. Increase collection of ante- and post-mortem data at processing plants.
ii. Assist in developing support material to simplify the draft Australian National Standard for the Development, Collection and Reporting of Animal Health Data.
d. Identifying the pathways, channels and partners best placed to work with producers to understand and action their animal disease feedback.
e. Outline the Monitoring Evaluation and Review framework for a national animal disease extension and adoption strategy. This will include clear targets for the different supply chain segments.