Dr Ken Bruerton – Winner of the Australian Poultry Award 2023

Dr Ken Bruerton was the winner of the prestigious Australian Poultry Award this year and I thought I would have a chat with Ken to congratulate him and hear his story. For our readers who do not know him, Ken is an animal nutritionist and runs his own business, the Queensland-based, Protea Park Nutrition Services.

Initially completing a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at Monash University, Ken went on to complete his PhD at University of Queensland.  It was a ‘completely accidental’ move whereby he ended up in the nutrition business, while doing Postdoctoral research at the Waite Institute at the University of Adelaide word came through that a South Australian feed and flour miller, Noske Flour Mills, was looking for someone to replace their nutritionist and chief chemist. Ken was interviewed by the CEO and the Technical Manager and got the job. He knew the biochemistry involved and the fact that he didn’t know anything about intensive agriculture didn’t seem to be an issue. The Technical Manager, Ralph Rymer, was confident Ken would pick that up.  It was timely, Ken said, ‘They gave me a car which was great because the job was at Murray Bridge so it was a bit of a commute.’

This was 1979, the double lane from Adelaide to Tailem bend was already built so the drive was reasonable.  How did Ken end up working at Noske?  He was building a house when his university supervisor was retiring and he needed a job; this just popped up. The position involved wearing three hats at once, animal nutrition, flour chemistry,  and running the lab. Ken learned how the feed business worked by being thrown in the deep end but he said his senior managers were also excellent mentors who invested time in bringing him up to speed on the practical aspects of nutrition, feed milling and flour milling. Further, the company owned a 500 sow piggery, and the technical manager owned a layer so some hands on involvement was possible.

Noske was the biggest feed mill in SA making broiler and breeder feed for Inghams and Golden Poultry as well as supplying pig, layer and dairy feeds.  During this time, he met and worked with Tony Edwards, Sue Peters, Ron MacAlpine, and Jeff Clatworthy whose companies were all supplied by Noske. What an excellent background to come into!

The History of Feed Milling (in short)

The business of flour milling and feed milling slowly moved away from each other. In the late 70’s corporate raiders acquired Noske Flour Mills via a takeover of the parent company, Souther Farmers Ltd. After merging Noske with their biggest competitor, Willam Charlick Ltd, a new company, Milling Industries, was formed. Further corporate activity resulted in Milling Industries becoming what is now Ridley corp.  The flour assets went to Allied Mills and Ridley initially had feed mills at Murray Bridge and Mile End and Dry Creek, as well as the Metro farms feed mill at Wasleys. Rationalisation resulted in the closure or sale of all but the Wasleys mill as well as the Murray Bridge flour mill.

Following the Noske/Charlick merger in 1981 Ken’s role changed as he became manager of Australasian Feed Services (AFS). This entity was a nutrition service company that supplied a formulation service to Milling Industries as well as outside clients including Goodman Fielder in Qld and PNG, Bartter Enterprises in NSW, Milne Feeds in WA and Intensive Industries in SA. Ken’s first assistant nutritionist was AFS was Brett Price. Greg Hargreave, who by that time had moved to Milne Feeds in WA, had also worked for AFS under Dr Stewart Pell, who left following the Noske/Charlick merger. Other nutritionists to work in AFS in subsequent years included Janet Glenton, Martin Chaseling and Greg Kenny.

The AFS days were great training and afforded plenty of opportunities for travel. AFS was a member of the Poultry Research Foundation and Ken was their representative at Foundation meetings. During this time Intensive Industries  became Metro Farms and it was through them that Ken met Tony Edwards. Ken recalled, with some fondness, long lunches with Tony over discussions about Metro’s pig feed requirements.

Ken’s employment in the feed milling industry lasted until 1988 when Ken started his consultancy. There were two choices: join the corporate side of the business or become an ageing technical person.  By then Ken’s family was growing and they had acquired  a bigger block of land in Birdwood SA and had begun a business growing cut flowers. Ken still had poultry contacts in Queensland egg producers, Arthur McLean and Doug Hall as he had kept in contact with them through Australasian Feed Services. By 1985 Hall and McLean had joined forces with Richard Reeder the founder of Brisbane Export Corp (BEC)  and they began to manufacture premixes to supply the egg farms but with a view to expand into the general market.  Well, they needed a nutritionist didn’t they.  

As a result, in 1988, a retainer was agreed with Ken who remained working from Birdwood, trading as Protea Park Nutrition. Through existing contacts Ken quickly picked up more clients.  Customers such as Rhone Poulenc in Victoria and Milne Feeds in WA. Milne Feeds had changed hands in a family dispute and was now owned by an independent WA corporate group. Ken met the new manager, Phil Percy in Adelaide and it was agreed he would do the nutrition. 

However, the Queensland producers were looking for Ken to move up closer to their region and that led to renegotiation of the agreement. In 1993 Ken and his family, with some misgivings, sold the Birdwood property and headed for Queensland. Ken and the family had stayed at Burleigh Heads during the 1993 poultry convention in October and the Gold Coast looked like a good option. It was an easy drive up to Brisbane in those days and a place where they could live next to the beach, so the issue was decided.  The family moved up the week before Christmas 1993 and have been resident on the Gold coast ever since.

World’s Poultry Science Association Australian Branch- The Australian Poultry Award

One of the highlights of APSS this year was the award of the WPSA Australia Branch Australian Poultry Award going to Dr Ken Bruerton.  Ken noted that winning this award was a ‘bit of a shock’ and a great surprise.  Julie Roberts called Ken to confirm that the award would be announced at APSS 2024, and to let him know he had been nominated and would receive the award.  The Australian Poultry Award was established to recognise the outstanding work of benefit to the Australian Poultry Industry by an individual.   The award began in 1964.  Previous recipients include 2020 Dr Peter Scott, 2021 Dr Marg Sexton & Dr Rod Jenner, 2022 Professor Steve Walkden-Brown. 

Top nutritional challenges faced by the layer industry

With current requirements for non-cage production, producing enough eggs in a free-range format is always going to be a struggle.  To get the same egg numbers out of the birds during production, more labour on farm is required and practices are more ‘hands on’.  Even more focus is required during the  rearing phase.  ‘If a flock is not reared optimally it is too late to try and fix things on the laying farm once the birds are placed.’ 

The next issue for farms will be reducing the carbon footprint and how the egg industry and free range producers are going to deal with it. Nutrition plays a major role in reducing carbon footprint so work on suitable diets will be a requirement. The pork industry and to some extent chicken meat are further into developing a strategy.  In free range egg production, the carbon footprint is bigger than cage production, and reducing carbon emissions will most likely become a major concern. As cages are phased out there is going to be a gap in the supply of eggs, which we are already seeing in the winter.  One effect is the increased price of eggs in the supermarket; there has been a 2$ increase in the price of eggs to consumers since cage-produced eggs were removed from supermarket shelves. This will be a challenge to the whole industry.  The current egg industry will struggle to meet production targets, the bigger producers will have to get bigger, and the medium producers will be in the firing line.  The caravan producers and pasture raised egg farmers that have local markets may survive.  This will allow them to specialise.  The middle sized producers are going to suffer the most and might struggle to make money in that market.  The largest producers will fare well as they can do the marketing to support their brands. Rising land values are going to force sales and then there is the consideration of who in the family will take on the businesses and if they are attractive to the next generations.

Advice for entering the poultry industry

Ken’s advice to young people who have just entered or are about to enter the poultry industry is to get positions with larger chicken companies or feed mills as they are great training grounds.  Once a person has gained experience they will find other opportunities open up.

As for those considering consultancy; it’s probably not for everyone.  One thing a consultant does need, however, is a foundation client.  This sets one up with an income and allows the creation of a contact base while paying your bills. 

Are we doing enough to introduce people to the industry? Ken and I discussed that it is it not necessarily currently very appealing to graduates who might come into the industry.  It’s in the interests of the major players in chicken meat, eggs and feed milling to attract new entrants to technical areas  What interests’ people, what would bring them around?  Some introductions can be done through the universities but it doesn’t stop there.  The opportunity to go on your own and have a career after learning from the private sector is an opportunity. 

Ken noted ‘it’s been a good journey working in the industry as there are a lot of nice people.’  He had a bit fun along the way. Working as a nutritionist has allowed Ken to work extensively offshore. What started with a consulting job supporting sales in Thailand morphed into a major involvement in staff training and expansion to working in many other Asian countries. These contacts expanded into consultancies in North America, Europe, and consulting to companies in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Africa. They afford opportunities to see the world and to gain further insights in poultry and egg production.  Ken is extremely grateful to the companies he has consulted to.  Working in Asia from the late 90’s and latterly in Japan for over 20 years Ken considers a privilege and thanks those that made it possible. This was a career highlight.

Lasting friendships and good mates.