AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program welcomes new Manager, Research

“Annie has worked for AgriFutures Australia for the past two years and her appointment builds on our commitment to the AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program,” said Mr Smith who also thanked outgoing Manager, Dr Sue Hatcher for her contribution.

Annie now joins the rest of the team: Manager, Research Georgina Townsend, Coordinator, Research Tasmin Rowe and Senior Manager, Research Dr Mila Bristow and who collectively manage the Program and its research, development and extension (RD&E) investments.

Annie will be managing projects which fall under the food safety, environment and consumer needs objectives of the Chicken Meat RD&E Plan 2019-22, while Georgie will continue to manage the Program’s research investments for projects fulfilling the supply chain objective.

No stranger to Australian agriculture

Agriculture has always been a part of Annie’s life.

Having grown up on sheep and cattle property near Delungra in Northern NSW she attended Charles Sturt University, (CSU) in Wagga Wagga completing Bachelor of Animal Science (Honours) with her honours project focused on parasitology in freshwater fish.

Annie began working with AgriFutures Australia in late 2018 as Coordinator, Research and worked across a variety of industries including Pasture Seeds, Thoroughbred Horse and Honey Bee and Pollination Programs and more recently Deer, Buffalo, Goat Fibre and Kangaroo Programs.

“The chicken meat industry is very different from the other agricultural industries that I have worked in. I am excited to learn new skills and be involved in delivering high quality research which will directly benefit the industry,” said Annie.

Part of the team

The Australian chicken meat industry is an efficient and fast paced industry which requires RD&E that can deliver high impact results to ensure that chicken meat remains the number one consumed protein in the country.

In her new role, Annie is looking forward to working closely with a broad range of experts.

“As Manager, Research I am in the very fortunate position to connect with industry experts and researchers to determine the crucial research questions that need to be answered to ensure that the chicken meat industry remains efficient.”

Driving high impact RD&E to improve food safety, the industry’s impact on the environment and meeting consumer needs

Through targeted, high-impact investment the AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program stimulates and promotes research, development and extension (RD&E) to grow the long term prosperity of the Australian chicken meat industry.

Annie, with the support of the team, will focus on managing the Program’s RD&E investments to improve food safety of Australian chicken, to develop and implement measures to protect and improve industry impact on the environment, and increase ability to meet consumer needs.

One key project within the food safety objective is PRJ-011593 Sanitisers for commercial use in chicken meat production led by the University of Adelaide.

“As standard practice there are a number of interventions in place, from when a meat chicken leaves the farm to the processing plant, to control food borne pathogens in chicken meat. The carcasses are commonly washed in the processing plant using sanitisers to remove the contamination and to ensure a safe product for consumers,” said Annie.

“This project aims to identify and test alternative sanitisers efficacy in Australian conditions,” she added.

Another addressing the environment objective, is PRJ-011589 Best practice manual for managing litter.

While a large body of work exists, based on Australian and international research, outlining the best practices for managing litter in the sheds, and spent litter it is often documented for academic purposes and isn’t in an easy to access format for the average producer.

Annie added: “This project brings all the relevant information regarding litter management into one manual, describing the whole picture, and will provide the content in a web-ready format.”

“The research team will also develop visual content such as videos to demonstrate best practice.”

For more on these projects Agrifutures Chicken Meat Program visit agrifutures.com.au /chicken-meat/