Livestock tech talks season 4 – biosecurity

Speaker 1: Welcome to this Red Meat and Wool Growth Program podcast brought to you by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Livestock SA and Animal Health Australia.

Drew Radford: Good on-farm biosecurity is becoming increasingly important to prevent not only the introduction of endemic diseases, pests, and weeds, but also to protect farming businesses from the threat of exotic animal diseases like foot and mouth. A person who's passionate about the importance of biosecurity is Nathan Scott, a consultant with Achieve Ag Solutions based in Inverleigh in Victoria. Nathan's got a background in prime lamb production and he works with producers to increase conception rates, improve lamb survival, lift growth rates and hone overall management. Nathan, thanks for joining me in the studio.

Nathan Scott: Thanks for having me.

Drew Radford: Nathan, why have you got such a passionate interest in biosecurity or should anyone involved in primary production have an interest in biosecurity?

Nathan Scott: Absolutely. Everyone should have an interest in biosecurity. I think it's one of the topics that isn't spoken about enough and mainly I think because everyone views it as being a government issue and it's not a government issue. It's an ‘everyone in agriculture’ issue and it's something that we need to be talking about more across the industry.

Drew Radford: Well, maybe I should take a step back, Nathan. I mean, how do you define biosecurity?

Nathan Scott: In all honesty, I think biosecurity is the wrong word when we're talking to everyone across the industry because biosecurity does have very much a government connotation. Really it's about business security. It's our way of being able to safeguard our businesses. So if we get an exotic disease outbreak, the impacts across all of agriculture, particularly in the livestock sector, are massive. And so it's in everyone's interest to be thinking about it from their own business security, just how we can play our role to try and reduce the impacts of an exotic disease outbreak.

Drew Radford: I liked your definition and you're trying to bring it to actually what it really means to me as a primary producer. But that term biosecurity though, do you think it's gained a bit more resonance over the last 18 months because of this horrible pandemic COVID that we've got going across the world at the moment?

Nathan Scott: Absolutely. And it is a perfect example of how a biosecurity system works, what contact tracing is all about. If we have a disease outbreak in livestock, the process is exactly the same. It's all about contact tracing. It's all about being able to know what's been where across the country and being able to lock things down so that we can control whatever the outbreak is. So yes, COVID is a perfect example of what we're talking about. Firstly, keep it out. Secondly, if it does get in, we need to be able to find it and find it quickly.

Drew Radford: Okay, well, let's take an example maybe to illustrate this. Could you explain what producers might expect if we were to experience an exotic or an emergency animal disease like, heaven forbid, foot and mouth?

Nathan Scott: Yeah. And foot and mouth disease is the best example because on one hand it's the scariest, but also it's the one that we're probably the most likely to end up with. There's a long list of potential diseases that could cause us problems, but certainly foot and mouth disease is the most likely. And for everyone that we speak to, all the experts, they also say it's not if we get it, but when we get it. And so that's why it's so incredibly important that we're prepared for it. And our best example is the UK outbreak in 2001. And to give people an idea that don't know a lot about foot and mouth disease, one of the key ways that it is spread is if it gets into pigs, which is often through food scraps or swill feeding. Pigs can produce a plume of the virus that can actually carry on the winds over quite a distance.

And once that gets into sheep and cattle, then it can spread quite quickly and particularly in sheep because sheep, they won't obviously show any symptoms. So sheep can be wandering around infected with foot and mouth disease and we won't know anything about it. And that's exactly what happened in the UK in 2001. Basically 16 sheep were infected as a result of some swill feeding to pigs, which then spread it to the 16 sheep. They went into a saleyard and were sold and spread all over the country, and because of the contact with other sheep in that saleyard environment, that resulted in 10,000 vets, soldiers, and field staff trying to lock down a foot and mouth disease outbreak. So if you just think about the logistics of us trying to find 10,000 people that can work to help try and contain an outbreak, that alone is a scary enough figure.

But the real scary part for me is the fact that 16 sheep turned into over 6 million animals being slaughtered is part of that control program. So 4.2 million were slaughtered as actually controlling the disease. And then there was another 2.3 million that were slaughtered for welfare purposes. And I suppose that's the bit that we don't talk about a lot is if we get a foot and mouth disease outbreak or any exotic disease outbreak, we go into a national standstill. So in other words, everyone's livestock movements stop immediately. So it doesn't matter how ready your lambs are to be sold or your calves or whatever it is that you might be ready to sell. Everything stops, and so there is no market. So in actual fact, if you look at that UK outbreak, there was no price recorded for cattle or sheep from March 2001 until January 2002. So even if you're a stock agent and you’re thinking, "This doesn't have a big impact on me," it absolutely does. You've got nothing to sell.

Drew Radford: Nathan, they're horrendous figures. And that would be almost unrecoverable for a lot of livestock producers. Maybe looking at this in terms of business continuity then, why is good biosecurity on-farm important for business continuity?

Nathan Scott: Well, one of the simple examples is if we have an outbreak that happens in a particular location and you happen to be within the control zone of that, it doesn't matter how good your genetics are. Part of the control program is they will come onto the farm and they will slaughter all the livestock. So if you are particularly stud stock or if you've spent a long time breeding a particular genetic line that you're really happy with, you're making all the genetic gains you've been working on for the last however many years, that can evaporate overnight. So from a continuity point of view there, it's devastating for people and just generally, so obviously biosecurity isn't all about exotic diseases. It can be things like footrot, lice, Johne's, there's a whole bunch of diseases when it comes to livestock that are potentially impacting your business and your ongoing ability to sell livestock into the various markets that you want to. So biosecurity in general is all about safeguarding your business and your ability to trade in the way that you want to.

Drew Radford: Nathan, we've had electronic identification in cattle for quite a while. But eID in sheep has been a hot topic across the sheep industry lately with a lot of pressure coming from industry to enhance traceability. What are your thoughts on eiD's role in traceability?

Nathan Scott: I'm an advocate of eID simply because it takes a lot of the human element away from the tracing of animals. Now, if you look at, from a COVID example point of view, it's basically the difference between proper use of QR codes every time you go into a business or a venue versus just simply having to sit down and ask someone where they've been, and in that contact tracing potentially, that's the example of eID where it's recorded automatically versus having to actually go back through a paper-based system and try and unscramble the egg. Now, a paper-based system, if it was used 100% effectively, can be still quite effective. The problem is we know that the use of NVDs is not good and the accuracy of the data that's recorded on them is not great. And so every time the systems get tested, we find that there is these inaccuracies and some of that simply sits at the farmer's feet often.

And I've been guilty of this myself when I was managing, the NVD at times was the piece of paper I had to make sure I filled out before sheep went on the truck. And it's a lot more important than that. It's critical to us being able to maintain our markets. And so whatever our traceability system is, it needs to work fast. If you look at what the projected potential impacts of a foot and mouth disease outbreak is, they're talking up to $50 billion and only a few hundred million of that are actually in controlling the disease. Most of the rest of it comes from market access. So it's about being able to track down the outbreak, control it, eradicate it, and then try and reopen our markets as quickly as we possibly can. And the only way we can do that is prove we haven't got it and prove that we've got good traceability. So that's the bit that's really critical. Out of the 50 billion, most of that's coming out of farmers’ pockets and stock agent pockets, because we won't get the value for the livestock when we lose that market access.

So whichever system it is, and in my view, eID gives us that really immediate traceability. The fact that any time an animal shows up in a saleyard, it's automatically recorded. It doesn't rely on someone telling you where they've been. It tells you where they've been automatically.

Drew Radford: You make a really good distinction there about relying on paper-based systems. And we've seen it also in COVID. Paper-based systems in cafes or whatever the case may be. Let's say there is an outbreak and the cafes shut for a day or two, the traceability system basically stops in that particular patch until they can find the owner, whereas eID is already in the system.

Nathan Scott: Yep. So it's all about that speed to trace. Ultimately our whole traceability system is about the speed and accuracy of the tracing. And so the more of that that can be automated, the easier that can be. Now, the simple argument that people will have is what about property to property transfers? And they are a problem. There's no doubt that people forget to transfer sheep when they buy them from the neighbour. But often those are the ones that are the most easily retraced through a manual system. So if they arrive and there's a glitch in the system where the sheep haven't appeared somewhere, they can retrace those steps really quickly. It's when they go into a saleyard, it's when they go into an abattoir that the issue is obviously much greater because of the potential contact with thousands of sheep.

And one of the things that has come out of some of the testing that they've done here, in that UK outbreak, the surprise was that those 16 sheep came in contact with a number of other sheep who were then taken to other saleyards around the country immediately. Now we've always sort of been of the view that that doesn't really happen here in Australia. We don't send sheep straight from one saleyards to another, except that we do, and cattle. And that's because they're often used as depots. So trucking companies will send livestock from one, they'll be picking up from one saleyard, they'll send them to another so that they can put together a load to go to a processor. And so actually we are having that exact same scenario where we've got a lot of livestock having contact with a lot of other livestock over a number of locations. And that's why we need to be able to retrace those steps as quickly as we can.

Drew Radford: Nathan, what do you reckon are the top three actions that producers can either stop doing, start doing, or change to improve biosecurity?

Nathan Scott: If we're talking exotic disease, for me the number one thing is to make sure that they understand what their requirements are. So that's being accurate in filling out NVDs. It's making sure that whatever the tracing system is for their state, making sure that they are adhering to that as closely as they possibly can. And then if we step outside of that and we go to just the broader biosecurity, a lot of it is making sure that you have control over what livestock are coming and going from your farm. So the simple one, if we're talking lice, Johne's, footrot, it's looking at double fencing, it can be making sure that we've got good quarantining processes for any animals coming onto the property. It's just making sure that there is actually a lot of thought going into it and a plan in place to try and minimise the risks for your business.

Drew Radford: Nathan, where can listeners find out more information or get support?

Nathan Scott: So certainly the local state organisations are a good place to start. So whether that's PIRSA or any of the other livestock industry bodies. Also, there's a wealth of information available on the web, whether that's through CSIRO if you're wanting to know more about some of the exotic diseases or any of the industry bodies, AWI, MLA. There's plenty of information available to people, but first and foremost I would say, make sure that you've actually gone through and thought about for your own business, what you need to do from a biosecurity point of view. And if you can identify there are areas you don't know enough, then seek help. There's plenty of people, whether it's private consultants, government representatives or the wider industry, there is actually a lot of help available to you.

Drew Radford: Nathan, you speak about this very passionately and you've given some great insights and a lot to actually think about. Nathan Scott, thanks for joining me in the PIRSA studio today.

Nathan Scott: No worries. Thanks very much for having me.

Speaker 1: To find out more information or get support in implementing better biosecurity within your business, contact your local animal health adviser from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions or the South Australian Livestock Biosecurity Extension team through the Livestock SA office. The Red Meat and Wool Growth Program is an initiative of the Government of South Australia and supported by Meat & Livestock Australia, SA Sheep and Cattle Industry Funds, and SheepConnect SA.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to this Red Meat and Wool Growth Program Podcast, brought to you by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Livestock SA, and Animal Health Australia.

Drew Radford: How do you ensure ongoing access to international markets for our livestock industry? To guarantee it, many aspects come into play, ranging from emergency response preparedness, endemic disease management programs, on-farm biosecurity practices through to livestock identification and traceability.
The person ultimately responsible for all of this in South Australia is the Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Mary Carr. A vet by trade, but arguably a farmer at heart. And, she joins me in the PIRSA studio. Dr Carr, thanks for your time.

Dr Mary Carr: Thank you very much for inviting me along.

Drew Radford: Mary, what made you want to become a vet?

Dr Mary Carr: I'm actually a farmer's daughter, from four hours north of Perth. I grew up on farms. My father was a farmer, my mum, both grandparents on both sides were farmers. And, I love the agricultural industry.
So, when I went through vet school, I'm a slightly competitive feminist at heart, and I wanted to be able to do something a bit more than what the rest of the boys in the farmyard could do. And so, I had the ability to go and do veterinary science. And, did a level of private practice coming out of that. But at the end of the day, as I sat back and looked at private practice, I decided I wanted to work more in the agricultural and the economics of agriculture, and so chose to move and start working for the department in South Australia.

And, I think one of the most rewarding parts of my role now, is actually that working with producers, and working with the industry, to achieve stuff together. I think it's such a powerful thing and, to be able to do. And I think my background, having come from a farm and knowing exactly the pressures that farmers are under, how their systems work, is something that really adds a lot of value to the role that I play here in South Australia.
And, one of my greatest loves is being able to go home to the farm in WA, and spend my weekend, or my few days off, tailing lambs, marking lambs, helping with shearing, roustabouting, driving motorbikes, moving stock. It's what I really enjoy, is actually being part of the industry as well.

Drew Radford: Mary, you mentioned you really enjoy working with industry and producers. How do you do that? And, what does your role actually entail?

Dr Mary Carr: So as the Chief Veterinary Officer, one of my primary roles is around the animal health status of the South Australian animals, primarily being livestock. With that, there's two major components of that. One is our market access, so being able to provide those assurances that we know the diseases that we have, and also the diseases that we don't. So, the proof that we don't have things like foot and mouth disease.

The other aspect of my role, is the early detection of those emergency animal diseases. So, ensuring that we have the surveillance systems in place, and also the capability within the staff and the industry to respond to those diseases.
One of the biggest parts of my job is the partnership with the industry. I can't, and my department cannot, achieve those two key priorities without having industry working alongside with us.

Drew Radford: Mary, that's an enormous amount of responsibility that you've got on your plate. It's a huge industry that you work with on a daily basis. What keeps you awake at night?

Dr Mary Carr: Certainly, keeping me awake at night, are getting those plans right for industry, and ensuring that I feel comfortable that I've advocated enough, and got the right systems in place to detect these emergency diseases.

Drew Radford: Mary, you touched on it a little bit earlier, but there are a huge number of players in Australia's biosecurity system. How's Biosecurity SA safeguarding our red meat and wool industries?

Dr Mary Carr: We are working very closely in partnership with our red meat and wool industries. We have a close relationship with our private veterinarians to ensure that there's adequate disease investigations undertaken that support our market access and our early detection of emergency animal diseases.

We also work directly with the producers, so we have a new program that we run, which is through a web portal, which works on biosecurity with producers to improve the on-farm aspects of their farm biosecurity. A lot of people don't realise that farm biosecurity is sort of the first stepping stone in our prevention activities.

If we can detect those diseases earlier, and, producers are vital, they are the ones who are inspecting their livestock every day. And they are the ones who need to notice that something is not right and either report that to their private vet or report it to a government vet and say, “I think something's not right here”.

So, the quicker we can report that disease or that unusual event, the quicker we can respond to it. The other aspect of biosecurity that producers may not realise that they're involved with every day of the week, is the actual benefit of biosecurity in reducing the spread of disease. So, if we can narrow that down and say, instead of disease spreading to 10 properties from one property, if we can bring that back to one by good biosecurity practices, it'll actually mean a smaller response.

And the earlier we can get onto a response, and the smaller that response needs to be, the quicker we can get rid of the disease and the quicker we can return to trade. And as a trading nation, and an exporting nation that our industries, our red meat and wool industries are so reliant on being able to sell premium products into an international market.
Those little things that producers are doing day in, day out, the prevention, the prevention of spread, the monitoring of their animals, which results in an early detection of disease, will be the critical factors that actually save their industry in the long run should this, a disease like foot and mouth disease occur.

Drew Radford: Mary, you mentioned there a new system, is that the One Biosecurity system there you are referencing in terms of how that's helping us maintain market access for producers?

Dr Mary Carr: Yeah. So, One Biosecurity plays several roles for us. It is a direct interface between producers and us. So, as a Chief Veterinary Officer, I now have the data on those producers as to the biosecurity practices that they undertake that minimise the spread of disease, and support the early reporting of disease. Now, that becomes a very valuable tool when I'm looking at international market access, because I can actually show them the evidence of how I know that there are processes in place in South Australian farms, that assure the product they're getting is not going to be carrying a disease like foot and mouth disease. Now that might seem like a bit of a stretch for some people, but when it comes to market access, it's not just about us being able to say we don't have these diseases. We also need to show that we have processes in place that we would detect it, should it occur here.

So through that portal, I've got evidence of the actions that producers are taking to do that. The other aspect of that program is that it actually is a learning tool and an education tool for producers, where they can go through and actually improve those biosecurity practices and be involved in helping to contribute to the sustainability of livestock enterprises for the next generation and beyond.

Drew Radford: It sounds an incredibly important thing to do because we're seeing recently in terms of trade spats, countries pointing to that sort of area, making claims, whereas you have the evidence at a hand to verify, or more importantly refute those.

Dr Mary Carr: Exactly! That's where these things come into play. Often we don't see the return immediately on the efforts that we put into biosecurity. But, having these processes in place means that when there is some form of trading spat, or a disease event that might occur, we can actually bring forth our evidence and say, no, no, we are not the same, or, we have these things in place, that we are assured that, that's not occurring here. And, evidence is key to actually being able to retain those markets or get them back really, really quickly.

Drew Radford: So Mary, what are the top three actions that you think producers can either stop doing, start doing, or change what they're doing now to improve biosecurity?

Dr Mary Carr: So, the top three things that I would recommend producers start doing, are ensuring that they know what the key diseases look like, that we are concerned about. So these emergency animal diseases, foot and mouth disease, blue tongue is another one in South Australia we have a lot of concern around, lumpy skin disease, they go and understand what these diseases would look like.

They are our eyes and ears out there on the farm, and they need to be able to know that something is a bit unusual, and these diseases may present quite a bit like an endemic disease. So, they need to be able to look at that and say, “Well, what would be different about that? And, when should I report that?”

And, we do run courses on these things, there's information on the website, but we do need producers to actually go and look at that stuff and feel comfortable that they would know when to report, because the early reporting of diseases is critical. The next thing on my list, would be for them to look at their biosecurity and how they can minimise the spread of disease within their flocks, but also beyond their flock to other places.

And, the One Biosecurity portal is a really good way to start having a look. It rates you, so, it gives you a bit of a star rating, which will indicate whether there's some level of improvement there that could be made. And, the most important thing is to do something now, not keep putting it off, and going, “I'll do that. I'll do that”. Take the action now, start with the small steps. The third one I think that industry and producers really need to look at is the relationship they have with their government department. While we are a regulatory body, we're also there as an economic development body, we're there for that market access.

And so therefore, we need that close partnership. We're there to work with you to ensure that market access, and to minimise the impacts of these diseases. So, make sure you know who is your local veterinary animal health officer, and know the programs that we run to actually assist you as an industry into the future. We're there to work with you. If you don't know who we even are and haven't taken a step in that direction, now's the time.

We've got regional offices around, we have a lot of programs that we run – One Biosecurity, disease surveillance programs. That two-way connection between industry and the animal health staff is really, really important, that trust. We need to make sure we've got the right trust between industry and government, if we're going to be successful in managing emergency animal diseases and maintaining our market access.

Drew Radford: Mary, you touched on it before in terms of there are places to go to get more information, where are those? Just briefly.

Dr Mary Carr: We work closely with the private vets. We have arrangements with them around disease investigations, where we provide subsidies for laboratory fees. So, those private vets are very familiar with the programs that we run. We also have our staff in the regional offices, who are at the end of the phone, and a really good website with a huge amount of information, whether it be traceability, diseases we're concerned about.

And the other one that's a new initiative, and, I think, a fantastic initiative, is the biosecurity officers at Livestock SA. We work closely with them, and they are there to support us and we are there to support them, and they're there for the red meat and wool industry. So, if you are a part of an organisation, look at how you can also tap into what they're doing to improve the biosecurity for South Australia.

Drew Radford: Dr Mary Carr, you've got an enormous amount of responsibility on your plate. Thank you for taking some time today, and joining me in the PIRSA studio.

Dr Mary Carr: Thank you for inviting me along.

Speaker 1: To find out more information, or get support in implementing better biosecurity within your business, contact your local animal health adviser from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, or the South Australian Livestock Biosecurity Extension team, through the Livestock SA office. The Red Meat and Wool Growth Program is an initiative of the Government of South Australia, and supported by Meat and Livestock Australia, SA Sheep and Cattle Industry Funds, and SheepConnect SA.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to this Red Meat and Wool Growth Program podcast brought to you by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Livestock SA and Animal Health Australia.

Drew Radford: Restocking. Unless you're able to do it through your own breeding program, you're going to have to look to buy stock in, which then requires a range of considerations – everything from documentation, right through to how you introduce the new stock onto your property. G’day, I'm Drew Radford and to delve into this further, I'm joined in the PIRSA studio by Dr. Rob Barwell, who's Senior Manager, Biosecurity with Animal Health Australia. They're the independent national animal health company that brings together government and industry. Rob, thanks for your time.

Rob Barwell: Thanks for having me on, Drew.

Drew Radford: Rob, you're a vet by background. How did you end up doing that and then moving to Animal Health Australia?

Rob Barwell: Yes, I did a vet science degree and practiced for about a dozen years in Australia, England and Hong Kong. I guess the choice of that career comes about because I grew up on a sheep and cattle property in the New England region of New South Wales. Having practiced for quite a few years, I really wanted to deal with the bigger picture, I guess, rather than dealing with issues one animal at a time. I could see value in doing projects and work with livestock industries and governments that help to actually target those big issues that are right across the industry. So, I guess, benefiting many animals or the whole livestock industry rather than individually.

Drew Radford: Rob Barwell, you've obviously got dirt under your boots then, and really understand the livestock sector in Australia from a firsthand perspective of being a vet. But then also, internationally, it must have given you a nice insight to the importance of biosecurity and its fundamental importance to access markets overseas.

Rob Barwell: Yeah, Drew. I definitely, in some of the practice that I did overseas, got to see some of the diseases that are exotic to Australia and that included foot and mouth disease in the UK nearly 20-odd years ago, as well as some particularly nasty things like screw-worm fly in Hong Kong. And Australia's fortunate not to have these types of things nor have had them occur. And I think it's really important that we keep them out. There's certainly some very significant market loss that could result if we were to get these things in. And we are a very export-focused country and a foot and mouth disease outbreak would be hugely detrimental to our sheepmeat, goat, pig industries. And I think that just gave me a little bit of valuable insight as to what we're trying to avoid.

Drew Radford: Let's drill down into that a little bit further then, Rob. The sheep and beef industry has been through a period of restocking recently. What are the options producers should consider when restocking their properties?

Rob Barwell: Yes, conditions have changed and suddenly people are looking to bring animals on instead of destocking. It will depend on the herd or flock that someone has. Some people are in a fortunate position with closed herds or flocks and a position to build up their own numbers of animals. But they're probably the minority. Most producers will have needed to look at buying in stock now that the seasonal conditions have improved. And, obviously, we've seen some high prices for sheep and cattle as a result. People will have different things in mind for these purchases. It could be anything from improving their herd or flock genetics to just buying in some stock to utilise that feed that they may have available. But it's a real risk at this time to the existing flock or herd that people have managed to hold onto as most diseases and pests and issues might arrive when new animals are actually brought onto a property.

Drew Radford: So what are the questions that producers should then ask of vendors when purchasing livestock?

Rob Barwell: Yeah, Drew. That'll depend a little bit, I guess, on where someone's buying those livestock. It could be through sales, from saleyards, etc. But in general, it's always best to obtain as much information on the animals as possible. Knowing some of the history of the animals and their source may make a huge difference to what occurs back on the farm when those animals touch down and are introduced into the existing flock or herd. For some people, they might already buy most of the animals or all of the animals from trusted breeders or sellers of stock. And so they may be happy with the knowledge that they already have, they’re confident in that source.

But where livestock are coming from a new source, then producers should be asking for an animal health declaration, which provides a pretty good baseline of biosecurity and animal health information, but they should also probably ask further questions about the animals and any issues in particular that they might be interested in avoiding. The health decs do have quite a bit of information on some of the diseases for those particular species, but they're not exhaustive. And so there could be other things that someone might want to ask about.

Drew Radford: Well, you've mentioned there animal health declarations in terms of documentation. Are there any other forms of documentation producers should be seeking when purchasing livestock?

Rob Barwell: Yes. National Vendor Declarations are a must have. Basically anyone who's participating in the Livestock Production Assurance program, LPA, will need to use the LPA and NVDs for movement of animals to their properties. And they've also got the waybill component. So they're used as a movement document as well. So that's really important. Animal health decs, we've already talked about as an important document to obtain, and that is recommended in LPA, but also mandatory for sheep to be moved into and within South Australia with a National Sheep Health Declaration. And then for those who might be sending sheep interstate, they're also mandatory for sheep moving into New South Wales. So they're really important documents. There are obviously various ways you can obtain them. They can be printed from, you can get books from the NVDs or print the various health decs from the Farm Biosecurity website. There's also now the ability to fill in these documents through the electronic NVD system, and Integrity Systems Company looks after.

Drew Radford: Asking the questions is the first point, then the documentation, then finally you get them onto your property. What then do you need to consider when you're actually introducing livestock onto your property?

Rob Barwell: Yeah, this is a critical period, Drew. You've done the deal and the animals are arriving. Really, it's important that the animals are viewed as, or soon after, they arrived. Are there any signs of lameness, or any issues as they leave the truck? It's much better to try and address some of these issues if they're found really early on after touching down on the property than after they've spent a week or weeks on the property. It's important to keep them initially in a holding paddock or a large yard to empty out and give that day or two for the possibility of any sort of weed seeds etc. to be emptied out and not be spread around the property. You may want to implement treatments at this stage based on what you know about their history, which hopefully you will obtain through the health declaration.

Also other questions that you might have asked and things that people might be doing at this stage could be a quarantine drench. They might need to update vaccinations if there are things that haven't been done and they consider good practice for the property. Foot bathing of sheep, depending on their source, etc. It's probably also then good to keep those animals separate from the main flock or herd for a period of time. I guess 28 days is probably not a bad suggestion, although there are some diseases and things that have a longer incubation period than that, but that period should see most of the obvious things crop up, if they're going to appear. One exception might be footrot, which for sheep that might mean that you need to keep those animals separate from your main flock until the next warm, wet period, when it's likely that you could see the spread of footrot at that stage.

Drew Radford: Rob, what are the top three actions that you think producers can either stop doing, start doing or change in terms of improving biosecurity?

Rob Barwell: Yeah, I think everyone's really aware about biosecurity now. We are all living through biosecurity issues in the human sphere, but on properties, I think everyone is also aware of biosecurity of animals and probably has a plan in place. But I think many of them maybe aren't as fit for purpose as they could be, and maybe not being reviewed and used as regularly as they could be. Ideally, these biosecurity plans need to be tailored to the property. And there should be dynamic documents where there's action plans in place so that any issues can be addressed in an ongoing fashion. Very few properties are going to have the perfect biosecurity plan in place. Most people find that there are a few things that they identify in the process of developing them, that they could probably improve on in the next 12 months. And I think the other thing, and as we've already said, just make sure that you obtain the appropriate documents when you're bringing on stock and isolate them for a suitable period of time. Certainly, as they say, prevention is better than treatment for many of the diseases that we're trying to prevent.

Drew Radford: Rob, we've probably only really skimmed the surface in some regards. Where can those listening go to for more information?

Rob Barwell: Yeah. Drew, there's a lot of good info available out there now. If you’re just after general biosecurity information, the Farm Biosecurity website has a lot of good stuff, including biosecurity manuals, plans and health declarations. Department of Primary Industries and Regions in South Australia has a lot of good information about biosecurity and particular diseases and programs on their website. And then in South Australia, you can contact the South Australian Livestock Biosecurity Extension Team or local governments or animal health officers for support in implementing or understanding biosecurity. In other states, there might be different resources that people can call on, but they are there.

Drew Radford: Dr. Rob Barwell, Senior Manager, Biosecurity, with Animal Health Australia. Thanks for joining me in the PIRSA studio today.

Rob Barwell: That's okay, Drew. Thanks very much for having me on.

Speaker 1: To find out more information or get support in implementing better biosecurity within your business, contact your local animal health adviser from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions or the South Australian Livestock Biosecurity Extension team through the Livestock SA office. The Red Meat and Wool Growth Program is an initiative of the Government of South Australia and supported by Meat and Livestock Australia, SA Sheep and Cattle Industry Funds and SheepConnect SA.

[End of transcript.]

Speaker 1: Welcome to this Red Meat and Wool Growth Program podcast brought to you by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Livestock SA, and Animal Health Australia.

Drew Radford: Fast and accurate information to help make better decisions is what any business owner wants. For farmers, one of the more recent tools to assist with this is electronic identification, otherwise known as eID. However, the benefits of eID also go way beyond the farm gate. G’day, I'm Drew Radford, and to find out how individual eID benefits the value chain, I'm joined in the PIRSA studio by Bonnie Skinner, General Manager of Policy and Advocacy at Sheep Producers Australia. Bonnie, thanks for your time.

Bonnie Skinner: Thank you very much for having me.

Drew Radford: Bonnie, for those that are unfamiliar, what's the role of Sheep Producers Australia?

Bonnie Skinner: Sheep Producers Australia is the peak representative body for the sheepmeat industry in Australia. So a lot of agricultural commodities have a peak representative body, and our job is to speak on behalf of sheep producers, particularly around matters of national importance, national policy priorities. Our members are made up of the state farming organisations so that we can make sure that we are effectively representing them at the national level as well, and we work across a lot of different areas largely to do with trade and market access, food safety and product integrity, animal health and welfare, and a range of different issues that pop up from time to time, and we collaborate with many other different partners across the supply chain, from the agents to the processing sector to the governments to make sure that industry is positioned to be a sustainable and profitable industry for generations going forward.

Drew Radford: Bonnie, individual electronic identification, eID, has been a hot topic across the industry for a while, but why even more so at the moment?

Bonnie Skinner: It certainly has been a hot topic for some time, and it's always been a top priority of Sheep Producers Australia’s. I think prior to the implementation of electronic identification in Victoria, it was a very much talked about subject. Visual plastic tags versus eID tags that have been used in cattle for quite a while. A lot of the work that was done back then was really around making sure that any move to an electronic system would be able to be done at commercial speed without making any major changes to sheep handling, particularly in places like abattoirs and the saleyards. Before Victoria went ahead with the change, there was a bit of uncertainty around whether the readers and the technology would be able to do that.

With the implementation that Victoria has gone through in 2017, it's provided industry and governments, really, sort of a proof of concept model, particularly when it comes to sort of the technical and the operational side of things. So our job, particularly over the last few years, is to really understand the performance of that system that's running down in Victoria, specifically the accuracy and how that compares to the rest of the more base system that we've got operating throughout Australia. So for us in recent times, the evidence that we've collected has shown us that there's major efficiencies and accuracies that could be gained by using eID for the sheep industry, and that, really, eID is a viable opportunity going forward, and one for the broader industry to consider.

But why it's important now more than ever is that the whole of the red meat industries have been considering major reform to the NLIS, which has been proposed to government. It's being actively considered by governments, and this major reform is considered to be very important to make sure that our integrity systems continue to be world-leading.

Drew Radford: Well, you mentioned world-leading there, Bonnie. Can you tell us what the benefits of implementing eID for traceability are for across the supply chain?

Bonnie Skinner: The key thing here is probably around improving traceability, just in regards to the broader reform for the entire NLIS for the whole red meat sector. If you consider that our whole red meat industry sector is worth $18 billion, that whole sector is completely underpinned by our market and trade access requirement, and traceability is a very important part of that. NLIS demonstrates our animal traceability to those partners, which gives them the confidence to allow our product into their markets. If that system doesn't work, our trading partners lose confidence in our product and they stop imports. Increasing traceability has, obviously, got the strongest links as well to biosecurity.

So when we look at the benefits that flow on from a traceability system, the greatest benefits that we can see is with regards to reducing the extent, the duration and any cost associated with a disease outbreak. So for government, particularly, they're the ones who are responsible for footing the bill when it comes to a major disease incursion like foot and mouth disease. So any measures that can help to decrease the cost of responding to a disease are ones that are going to be appealing to government, but producers should also think about it as their insurance policy as well.

Drew Radford: Bonnie, you talked there about sheep producers, but this is a broader issue though, isn't it? There's implications for other members of the supply chain, whether they're livestock agents and saleyards. What message would you offer to those members of the supply chain which are beyond the farm gate?

Bonnie Skinner: From our perspective, collaboration and partnership across the whole supply chain is critical to the improvement in traceability. So I always say, for any system to succeed, whether we're talking about the existing one or a new one, the whole supply chain, including government, needs to have ownership of that system and be capable of resourcing it and implementing it. That doesn't mean just at the startup stage. That means throughout implementation, you have adequate investment to support that as well as technical assistance in the field, and compliance monitoring is key there. So if we're talking about the importance of a traceability system and the relative importance with regards to biosecurity, that should be sitting very high at the top of everyone's priority list throughout the whole supply chain.

All of us have a responsibility to make sure that the systems like the NLIS are fit for purpose and performing to the best of their abilities, because all the factors and all the benefits that flow on from biosecurity that we see in the livestock sector are within our control, and it's important that we make sure that we've got a really strong handle in its true value and invest in that accordingly. Livestock agents are a really important component of making sure that there's accurate identification of sheep in the saleyard systems and ongoing extension and support of agents, in particular, is really important to facilitate a culture change from one that's based in obligated compliance to one around more active participation. But again, collaboration and partnership has to be met through all levels of the supply chain to recognise that.

Drew Radford: Earlier on, Bonnie, you referenced Victoria, where they've already got eID mandated. What are the challenges of implementing eID right across the sheep industry?

Bonnie Skinner: Victoria's served us as a good proof of concept model. There are a few really important elements that need to be considered if we're going to look at this nationally and the ones that get talked around our tables quite often. Importantly, we need to make sure that there's a platform that's established between government and industry. So again, we can work on that collaboration to implement any new system. Industry has to be at the table and provide advice on how that implementation should happen. There's the considerations around equipment and infrastructure. So they've got to be fit for purpose for every sector of the supply chain and the location that they're going to be installed in.

So for example, large volumes of sheep moving through a saleyard is likely then to necessitate panel readers or auto drafters where smaller volumes might only need one reader. But again, industry needs to be a part of that conversation. Whether we look at grants or subsidies or other cost-sharing arrangements so that any acquisition or installation of equipment for businesses across the supply chain are covered, not only during the implementation of the transition, but also into the future. There also has to be consideration given for extension and training in an area that probably hasn't been resourced as effectively as it should have been to-date.

So I'm talking dedicated resources available to every part of the supply chain, all sectors, not just during, but after implementation as well, and that's for things like training, in-field assistance, demonstrations, and compliance as well. I think the last important point from my perspective is around the timing. Victoria had a long phased in approach, which was entirely appropriate for, basically, rolling out a brand new system where they expected technical difficulties and adoption problems. It allowed them to, basically, get every part of the supply chain ready. I think we've learned a lot from Victoria that, perhaps, we might give some consideration as to how that could look nationally, if that's where things land.

Drew Radford: Bonnie, in terms of this discussion and moving it forward, has the pandemic, has it helped with the conversation at all in terms of highlighting the advantages of bringing in a system like this?

Bonnie Skinner: I think it has, Drew. I think it's brought the relevancy, and the understanding, and the importance of traceability to the front of mind for a lot of people who, perhaps, didn't quite understand it very well. Our consumers, in particular, are always asking for more information and more provenance from their supply chain, but do they know what the NLIS is? I would say they probably don't. For producers, in particular, I think trying to understand the differences between an eID system and a mob-based system have been assisted by the implementation of QR code scanning at most places around Australia now.
I think it's really important to note that in the visual tag system, really, the only way that we're really able to verify traceability is by physically checking ear tags against paperwork and against database records. eID means that the scanning process basically does the checking and the verification through that and links each animal to a consigner or a location and a date. So drawing the parallel links to COVID, we can see what happens when individuals aren't scanning in at places and their movements aren't being followed. It means that things blow out very quickly, and the longer it takes us to get a handle on them, the longer it takes to resume normal activities, or when we think about it in the event of a livestock disease outbreak, the important thing is that we can contain a problem as quickly as possible, and that means we can resume trading as quickly as possible. That's the key thing for us. So I think it has been a very important analogy for a lot of people.

Drew Radford: Bonnie, what are the top three actions that you think producers can either stop doing, start doing, or change what they're doing now to improve biosecurity through the integrity system?

Bonnie Skinner: Well, I think given we are talking about sheep traceability, I'll narrow it down to what producers can do around their requirements for traceability. My first recommendation would be around making sure that all producers are proactive in understanding their requirements for tagging sheep under the NLIS, recording those movements on the database, and completing their NVDs. These are all legislated responsibilities as well as ones that are required under the Livestock Production Assurance program, and effective traceability relies on everybody doing their part and doing that correctly. My second action would probably be around making sure that you have registered for an NLIS account if you are a livestock producer. If you are moving livestock at any time, you really need to have access to the NLIS database to be able to do those movement recording steps yourself, or making sure that they've been done for you.

That third action point, for me, would really be around, once you've got that NLIS account, make sure that you're going on and checking any movements of any livestock that have happened from your PIC to any other PIC that's on the NLIS database. Now, I know if you've not used it before, it can be a little bit confronting and possibly a little bit difficult to understand, but there are plenty of people who would be able to give you a hand in doing that, but all producers should get into a habit of making sure that those movements have been done. Any movements that happen between PICs, and that's movements of livestock between two PICs, have to be recorded on that database.

More often than not, that's the responsibility of the receiver of the stock, but completing a PIC reconciliation, making sure that transfers have been completed are all things that we can do to make sure that the information in that database is as accurate as possible.

Drew Radford: Lastly, Bonnie, where can people listening to this go to find more information?

Bonnie Skinner: For producers listening in South Australia, your first stop shop would have to be PIRSA, your local state authority, more broadly for help around the NLIS and any requirements for that or the Livestock Production Assurance program. You can get in touch with the Integrity Systems Company help desk on 1800 683 111, and if any producers out there listening would like to discuss traceability more broadly from a policy perspective, definitely get in touch with Livestock SA, or you're more than welcome to contact Sheep Producers Australia.

Drew Radford: Bonnie, we've covered a lot of ground there, and there's a lot to consider. Bonnie Skinner, General Manager of Policy and Advocacy with Sheep Producers Australia, thanks for joining me in the PIRSA studio.

Bonnie Skinner: Thanks so much for having me, Drew. Appreciate it.

Speaker 1: To find out more information or get support in implementing better biosecurity within your business, contact your local animal health adviser from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions or the South Australian Livestock Biosecurity Extension team through the Livestock SA office. The Red Meat and Wool Growth Program is an initiative of the Government of South Australia and supported by Meat & Livestock Australia, SA Sheep and Cattle Industry Funds, and SheepConnect SA.

[End of transcript.]

Speaker 1: Welcome to this Red Meat and Wool Growth Program podcast brought to you by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Livestock SA and Animal Health Australia.

Drew Radford: 95% of wool exported from Australia is greasy wool. Sure, it's an interesting stat, but its true importance is that if there was an emergency animal disease outbreak, all wool exports would stop immediately. This is because the wool is unprocessed and has the potential to be carrying the disease. Exports would take months, possibly even years, to resume. G'day, I'm Drew Radford and this nightmare scenario is what organisations like WoolProducers Australia are working hard to avoid by ensuring producers and the entire supply chain are across the importance of biosecurity. The general manager of this industry peak body grew up on a wool property, then went on to work as an agronomist and then in biosecurity assessment roles. His name is Adam Dawes and he joins me in the PIRSA studio. Thanks Adam.

Adam Dawes: Thanks Drew. Good to talk.

Drew Radford: Adam, our focus today is biosecurity. Let's start by chatting about emergency animal diseases, otherwise known as EAD, which means things like foot and mouth. They're a huge threat to the Australian sheep industry. Can you explain why WoolProducers Australia think that EAD preparedness is so important for wool producers and also the broader supply chain?

Adam Dawes: Look, and I think probably on that, it's not just in relation to just sheep or wool industries, it's livestock industries broadly. We've had recent representations made from the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mark Schipp, who said that we're almost a 50% chance of getting a major emergency animal disease outbreak of some sort in the next five years, and a 9% chance of getting an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. And as everyone's well versed and well aware with recent and ongoing experiences with COVID, the quicker we are able to act upon exotic diseases or emergency diseases, the quicker we can get control of them and minimise the impact.

So there's an Emergency Animal Disease Response Agreement that's been established as an agreement between industry and government, and that sets out roles and responsibilities, and also sets out a framework for cost sharing associated with response activities. And it's important that we make sure that industries are understanding of obligations and mechanisms that exist under that agreement, so that when an emergency disease does come to Australia – and we must approach it as when it comes, not if it comes – we're ready to jump quickly, minimise impact and try and restore our favourable disease status to keep our really positive and favourable market access conditions.

Drew Radford: Adam, they are concerning numbers, 50% of something occurring in the next five years. And we've been told the same with pandemics. It's not a case of if, it's a case of when. So you're very focused on this as an organisation. You're not just sitting around writing plans out, you actually try and sit down and test them. You've done that recently.

Adam Dawes: Absolutely. So we do have plans in place. But what we've done is, in September last year, we ran an exercise to test out our crisis response plans and our crisis communications plans to see if they are fit for purpose. And I guess through that process, we created a fictitious scenario of a wool-producing property in southern New South Wales that had had an incidence of foot and mouth disease. And we started to involve all of the post-farm gate sectors of the industry, varying from state governments, federal governments, and all of the people along the post-farm gate wool supply chain, in testing out how well our crisis communications plan and our emergency response plan, were they fit for purpose?

Drew Radford: A really interesting exercise. You ran this over what, two half-days and involved everyone in the chain, but reading the review of this, it was that they had recently shorn and wool had gone from the property into the supply chain.

Adam Dawes: Absolutely. And what we found there is that when wool leaves the property, it's very obvious that it's not a linear, closed loop flow, through the supply chain. So we found the multitude of, I guess, methods in which that particular scenario could propagate the disease. We found that the scenario that we had, they had multiple properties, so you had workers moving between properties as well. You would've had issues with regards to shearers and wool handling staff moving between properties, transport logistics – so we found the wool, post-farm, could potentially be mixed with, or contaminate, wool from other unaffected farms with viral fragments.

We also found that samples that are taken for quality testing that assist with marketing of the wool, potentially move to other states. So a very, very convoluted process. One of the other points that we identified, that was a real educator for a lot of our post-farm gate supply chain partners, was that all of the wool that's exported from Australia, of which about 95% is exported in a greasy state, a raw state, all of that wool's accompanied by export health certificates and all of those health certificates declare that Australia is free of foot and mouth disease.

So the moment we get an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, our federal government is no longer able to issue export health certificates, which means that 95% of the wool that we produce no longer has a destination.

Drew Radford: Is it as brutal as that? It would take years to try and get that back?

Adam Dawes: Absolutely. I mean, even under a best case scenario, we'd be looking at a stop of somewhere in the range of six to 12 months to re-establish market access for wool following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease virus. They'd obviously be on a priority basis, so we'd look to pursue restored market access with the biggest trading partners first, but it would be in that order of magnitude. No wool would be traded out of Australia in a greasy state for at least six months, which came as quite a shock to a lot of the supply chain, particularly based on elements of the supply chain that carry debt while wool's in transit. There's a big commitment now to make sure that we continue to remain on top in terms of our EAD preparedness.

Drew Radford: Adam, what would the change in scenario be for onshore wool processing, should we be exposed to an EAD?

Adam Dawes: So I guess previously Australia used to process and export a lot of our wool in a processed state. What we started to see was with the emergence of offshore processing and manufacturing hubs, and increasing costs of production here, a lot of our processing capacity got moved offshore. Today, we're only able to process around about 5% of the wool that we produce and that processing takes place largely in the form of carbonising and scouring wool, so essentially washing wool and removing vegetable matter, grease and dirt, from it and exporting it. Then once wool's been through that carbonisation or scouring process, then the risk of animal diseases like foot and mouth disease is removed.

So wool producers are undertaking some work at the moment to explore opportunities to see if we can increase our domestic processing capacity. Other benefits such as jobs and value-adding for our agricultural products here, but also major benefits in terms of our EAD preparedness. If we could process some of the wool here, then we could potentially manage an outbreak, or wool that's produced within an outbreak area, so that it can still continue to be re-exported. So we are starting to undertake a bit of work there as well, but it's not to say we can be complacent about other emergency animal disease preparedness activities.

Drew Radford: What an irony that we offshore so much of this stuff, whereas in this particular case, if you are processing it here, the supply chain would incur a less of a hit.

Adam Dawes: Absolutely yes, and I think we're starting to see now the rest of the world – and it's definitely going to be the case post-pandemic – starting to become more and more aware of the importance of biosecurity. To the extent that, OIE, the world health organisation of the animal world, their notifications of regulatory requirements and disease outbreaks have been increasing by 60% year-on-year in recent years. So it's definitely a growing field of concern and something we need to re-look at maybe for reasons beyond just the commercial face value of it.

Drew Radford: Adam, the detailed scenario testing that you did with Exercise Argonaut and looking at the impacts on the wool industry from an EAD outbreak, what would you like producers to take away from that?

Adam Dawes: One of the things that we identified through the exercise is that there is a need for us to develop some audience-specific communication tools. It's well and good for us to have resources built into response plans. They will sit very much in the knowledge of our federal and state government colleagues and within the industry bodies that own the enterprise manuals. But when the rubber hits the road and we do have an EAD outbreak, we need to get messaging to all parts of the supply chain, so we need messaging that's catered towards producers. We need messaging that's catered towards workers, contractors, the likes of shearers or wool handlers, and also to some of our post-farm gate supply chain partners that aren't necessarily engaged in managing biological processes on a day-to-day basis. So farmers have a fairly good understanding of disease control and biosecurity from managing their own farms.

But once we start to get further along the supply chain, a lot of those supply chain members are more focused on commodity trading and finance risk management rather than biological risk management. So we are starting to work with Animal Health Australia to develop some resources to educate those different stakeholders based on their differing needs.

Drew Radford: Arguably, is it a good time to be putting out that sort of communication? Would people be more receptive to it now that they have a personal insight through the pandemic?

Adam Dawes: Absolutely. I think it would be a missed opportunity if we didn't jump on it now. Having said that, when we jumped onto things back in September and had the exercise last year, we probably didn't expect the pandemic to still be continuing on in the way it is. But I think people now do have an appreciation of the need to act quickly to make sure that we don't need to manage ourselves out of a situation. We can manage ourselves back within the status quo as it was, or restore that as quickly as possible.

Drew Radford: Adam, you've talked there about the communication requirement. What are wool producers focusing on now in terms of emergency animal disease preparedness, what are you doing in that space?

Adam Dawes: What we found was that our actual measures were quite sound in terms of the EAD generic framework that sits there, but we need to make sure that the information is more readily available and easier to access. So we're also continuing to work with colleagues at Animal Health Australia to make sure that we rewrite the resources like our Wool Enterprise Response Manual. And to start to develop resources like protocols that can be used in a wool warehouse, for example, in the event of an EAD outbreak. So those guys, they're quite focused on what they do and they do what they do really well. And they're not necessarily thinking day-to-day, what do I need to do if there's an EAD outbreak tomorrow?

We need to have some resources available for them so that they can pick them up if there is an EAD and at least have a starting point to start to understand what they need to do immediately and what they need to do to refine their systems to operate under EAD conditions, or what we might call what's going to be their COVID normal in the case of a foot and mouth disease outbreak.

Drew Radford: Adam, what are the top three actions that you think producers can either stop doing, start doing or change what they're doing now to improve biosecurity?

Adam Dawes: Yeah, so I think producers can start to make sure that they have an increased awareness of what they can do, on-farm, to have good biosecurity processes and practices in place. That can be through quarantining stock and making sure that vehicle movements and contractor movements are controlled so that they can't bring in diseases, but also weeds and other exotic pests that are exotic to their property. And I think in talking to some of the guys that we've now got on, the likes of Emily Buddle, there is a growing producer understanding of the importance of doing that, and not just having it there for the sake of a government process that's pushed upon them.

I think as well, the other critical thing that producers can do is start to establish a relationship with their local vets or their local state department vets, to make sure that they've got contact points that they can readily reach out to if they suspect that something isn't quite right. It's pretty quick these days – most people, if not everyone's carrying a smartphone – to take a quick video or a photo and send it off to someone if you feel like something is not quite right, and just find out what it is. Because we are well and truly versed now with the likes of COVID, people should get tested when they've got the most minor of symptoms. It should be the same if people see a condition they haven't seen in their animals before, they should ask someone for help.

Drew Radford: Adam where can our listeners find out more information or get support?

Adam Dawes: We're giving regular updates through the WoolProducers website and the communications that we put out. But I would encourage people initially, particularly our Australian listeners, to get in touch with Emily Buddle and the biosecurity team at Livestock SA, and they'll be able to steer you in the right direction to help you get better prepared and to start to feed out those resources as we develop them.

Drew Radford: Adam, some really valuable insights into the need to be prepared for emergency animal diseases. Adam Dawes, General Manager of Wool Producers Australia, thank you for joining me in the PIRSA studio today.

Adam Dawes: Thanks Drew, it's been a pleasure.

Speaker 1: To find out more information or get support in implementing better biosecurity within your business, contact your local animal health adviser from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions or the South Australian Livestock Biosecurity Extension team through the Livestock SA office. The Red Meat and Wool Growth Program is an initiative of the Government of South Australia and supported by Meat and Livestock Australia, SA Sheep and Cattle Industry Funds and SheepConnect SA

[End of transcript.]

Speaker 1: Welcome to this Red Meat and Wool Growth Program podcast brought to you by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Livestock SA and Animal Health Australia.

Drew Radford: After three generations of farmers, the fourth decides to begin trialing a new approach to sheep feeding. Fast forward 20 years and the fifth generation are now running one of the biggest feedlotting operations in the state. That's the story of the McGorman family who own Thornby feedlot in Palmer. However, bringing 70,000 lambs onto your property each year means you need to have a heavy focus on biosecurity.

G’day, I'm Drew Radford, and to find out more about what producers should consider on-farm prior to the sale of lambs to feedlots, I'm joined in the PIRSA studio by Manager of Thornby feedlot, Alex McGorman.

Thanks for your time.

Alex McGorman: Yeah, no worries.

Drew Radford: Alex, how long have you been in the feedlot game?

Alex McGorman: We started about 2000, 2001. We were mainly cropping. We had some sheep here. My father had sheep up in the hills on agistment. Come January the hills feed went no good, as it does. So he'd read a little bit about feedlotting lambs. He brought them back here and we built one little pen. We were bucketing in there by hand in there, mixing up the bentonite with the barley, doing it all by hand. Might have been a couple hundred sheep and a couple of really old feeders we bought, and started off there.

Drew Radford: From small things big things grow, Alex. How many sheep are you putting through there now?

Alex McGorman: Last year we did about 70,000 and we've just been consistently growing. There's some people coming in and out this game pretty quick, big numbers, but we've been doing it for 20 years, and only doing a few more thousand each year, sort of thing. Just consistently doing more as I'm being offered more sheep because you're in the game longer and you're making more contacts and trying to do the right thing by everybody, and it becomes a bit easier in time.

Drew Radford: Alex, finishing lambs in feedlots is becoming increasingly popular across South Australia. What do you look for from a producer when purchasing animals for a feedlot?

Alex McGorman: Well, our ideal lamb has changed a little bit over the years. I think in the last couple years, its more average weight probably used to be 34, 35 kilos, but in the last couple of years it's probably creeped up to closer to 40 kilos. I think that last year gone, and particularly with the season being better, people are getting a bit more weight. And generally, I believe farmers are doing a better job with the sheep as time goes on.

Breed's not so important around here. The Merinos that do an excellent job. We've had every breed under the sun. I do stay away from Dorpers. Do find they are just a bit of a skitchy animal. I've been told by our staff here don't buy Dorpers because nobody likes working with them. But then you’ve got the new breeds, these Aussie Whites and Ultra Whites coming through, which we’ve tried a few, they seem to go okay so they might be getting a lot of popularity. So they might come through a bit better. But there's some breeds that are just not as well suited for pushing out in feedlot weights. Some of these composite ones, we do have troubles with prolapsed bowels because they're a lot tighter. Basically the breeds are tight around the back end so we need okay, here's something produces out there, tailing lambs to leave a little bit more length on their composite lambs. They're fine on grass, you put them on grain you get a lot of prolapsed bowel problems with those. So we just have to be a bit careful not to push them to heavier weights.

Drew Radford: Alex, what about key animal health considerations? What do you take into account when purchasing animals to put through your feedlot?

Alex McGorman: These days, myriad of health things. We've got plenty of farms throughout the state that have footrot quarantines on them, either benign or virulent. We got quarantined over feedlot in the last year or so because our farm at Kangaroo Island got under quarantine. So I'm able to handle those ones. So, those things and the OJD is another issue that is seeming to become less of an issue, but those quarantines are still some things.

But generally, health-wise you’ve got a lamb that's growing well, lice-free – which I’ve got to say, statewide, I think producers are improving because we're not seeing near the amount of lice in the feedlot as we used to. For us, the ideal lamb is 35 to 40 kilos, a lean one with a lot of frame, so all we're doing is finishing them off rather than filling the frame out.

Drew Radford: That's a good news story, Alex, in terms of it sounds like since you started, the health of the sheep are a lot better. But what are some of the animal treatments you've implemented when inducting animals into your feedlot?

Alex McGorman: When we do our own worm egg testing here we've got the girls – we currently have the girls run the feedlot, they have a lot more care for animals than the blokes do. They hit the other bits around the place. Worm egg counts, we do them on lots to save drenching. We still use Ivomec, that seems to be – for the feedlot situation we knocked the worm burden down enough, because they're not reinfecting, to get us through quite okay. We were, in the past, using all sorts of Triguards and those sort of things, but we give them a six-in-one shot. Pulpy kidney's probably the biggest thing that we're really doing that for. And summertime we're doing AD&E for everything. That really helps with the pink eye situation. So, it's not over the top. That's really their health schedule.

Drew Radford: Alex, what are the top three actions that you think producers can either stop doing, start doing, or change what they're doing to improve biosecurity when supplying healthy sheep to feedlots?

Alex McGorman: Oh, one thing is getting the NVDs right. Getting them there because that's sometimes, on the biosecurity, that's a little bit of a problem we have chasing up. You know, they say they'll give it to the agent or that and get the health statements right. And just filling out what they've done on there because we have had, in the past, treatments that were put on there late or something, or we've even got sheep from meatworks that they couldn't kill because of people not filling out the NVDs correctly. But most people are pretty good on the lice side of things. If I'm buying them privately or through an agent and they often let me know they may have a lice problem, which is fine. It's not a big problem to me because most things get shorn here.

Well, the feet situation. If they come in from a property with any sort of foot issues that they're right there. I've had just recently from a property that, well, I actually loaded the sheep myself, we didn't think there was a problem. Two days later we've got them in there shearing and I had to let them know, "Geez, I reckon you might have a problem here”. We didn't know when we picked them up. So we have a foot bath set up here for treatment if needed.

Drew Radford: Alex, where would you direct listeners to find out more information or support about those sorts of things?

Alex McGorman: There's a feedlotting code of practice, which we were involved in setting up many years ago, because when we set up our feedlot there was no rules and regulations. I worked in cattle once going back a long time ago. I do a lot of Googling. I reckon anything to do with lamb feedlotting in Australia for the last 10, whatever, I've read. So you can Google anything and you'll get the answer.

Drew Radford: Alex, what do you think producers can be doing to improve in terms of preparing lambs for delivery for feedlots?

Alex McGorman: I think a big thing is to prep them right for their trucking event. Often feedlots buy by weight, so produce ones to keep their weight up. As a feedlot I'm happy to pay for all the weight. I don't need every last bit of moisture drained out of them and put it back in them because that's going to knock them back further. So we want to keep them going well. I think it's best to leave them on the hay all the time. They need to be off water for 24 hours if they're going for a long trip. And that's especially true when we buy a lot of sheep for Kangaroo Island. With the ferry you obviously can't have water running around. A bit of dry poop though is no problem. And that'll keep the sheep in a lot better condition.

If you’ve got yards or got a shed to put the sheep in the night before, and there's rain around, put them in the shed. I've been out just recently to a very large place where there was a massive shed right next to them, but they've left the sheep out there in probably an inch of rain the night before because nobody thought, “Well, maybe I should do that”, because they just said, “Oh well, the sheep are sold”. Taking care of the sheep till they leave the property, looking after sheep how you'd want to be looked after. There's still a lot of work to be done, I think, with people's attitudes to sheep, how they are looked after out there.

Drew Radford: Alex McGorman, Manager at Thornby Feedlot. Thanks for joining me in the PIRSA studio.

Alex McGorman: No worries at all. Thanks for your time.

Speaker 1: To find out more information or get support in implementing better biosecurity within your business, contact your local animal health adviser from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions or the South Australian Livestock Biosecurity Extension team through the Livestock SA office. The Red Meat and Wool Growth Program is an initiative of the Government of South Australia and supported by Meat and Livestock Australia, SA Sheep and Cattle Industry Funds and SheepConnect SA.

[End of transcript.]

Speaker 1: Welcome to this Red Meat and Wool Growth Program podcast, brought to you by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Livestock SA and Animal Health Australia.

Drew Radford: Animal health conditions can have significant production costs for both producer and processor. Often though, not everything can be seen in the live animal on-farm, so processors are providing more data back to producers so they can gain a deeper understanding of the impact of their on-farm decisions. G'day, I'm Drew Radford and today in the PIRSA studio, we're going to look into this further with Mark Inglis, Farm Assurance and Supply Chain Manager with JBS Southern. Mark, thanks for joining me.

Mark Inglis: Oh, my pleasure.

Drew Radford: Mark, what does a supply chain manager do?

Mark Inglis: I've got a fairly unique role, I suppose, within the industry, it's fairly varied. I suppose the initial part of my role is I've written and I manage an on-farm assurance program that gives guarantees to our customers out the other end. Currently we've got around two and a half thousand beef producers in it, and around about 1100 lamb producers in it. And it stretches from northern New South Wales, down generally through the high rainfall areas because it's a certified grass-fed program, down into Victoria, cross into the South East of South Australia and down into Tasmania.

Drew Radford: That is a fairly unique position, especially writing that sort of documentation. So as a supplier of red meat products to both local and international markets, why is animal health management on-farm so important for a business like yours?

Mark Inglis: We've been looking at the animal health component of what we do for a long time and like other things that are within the program around eating quality and things like that, we can see a benefit for producers to get that kind of feedback back so they can make changes on-farm, and it's really a win-win situation. So if we are seeing less issues around animal health coming through our processing plants, we know that back on-farm, the farmers are getting better production figures.

Drew Radford: Mark, what are some of the main animal health conditions that you see coming through your processing facilities?

Mark Inglis: Depending on what species, obviously we process both beef and lamb, but on a beef scenario, probably the top ones that we see are either nephritis, liver fluke, and we are seeing a bit of hydatids as well coming through. On the lamb front, it would certainly be around broken ribs, pimple gut, and probably around pleuropneumonia.

Drew Radford: That's a reasonable list Mark. So how are some of those things having an impact on your profitability and also your product integrity?

Mark Inglis: One of the really simple examples is around pimple gut in lambs. And I suppose nodule worm is the correct terminology for it. But, for example, we obviously try and keep all the runners out of the lambs that come through. And if it's been infested with nodule worm, the nodule worm burrows in and out of that small intestine and creates little pimples across it. Now, one of those runners is worth between five and seven dollars a head for us. So if that runner is condemned – it's got nodule worm, we can't use it – therefore we are five to seven dollars in the hole straight away because of that problem. And to fix it on-farm, it's a 20 or 30 cent drench.

Drew Radford: Well, on the on-farm issue then, what would you like to see producers doing more of on-farm to improve the health status and quality of the animals that they're delivering through to producers like you?

Mark Inglis: For starters, I think, inquire about the animal health data that we're all starting to feed back now at our Bordertown plant. We've run many workshops with both agents and producers coming through the process floor and having a look at those types of things that we see that come through the plant. And then I suppose accessing that information and then probably making some change back on-farm. And again, it's going to be very interesting because I think producers, we'll start to see if they are addressing some of these issues, they’ll start to see increases in production based off some of the changes that they've made.

Drew Radford: Well, that's the bottom line thing, isn't it? At the end of the day, it's more than likely end up with more money in your business, your back pocket.

Mark Inglis: Yeah. Not only us, it's more money in the producer’s pocket as well. Those types of things around animal health and compliance levels and things like that, it's a win-win situation for that producer. A great example is eight, 10 years ago when we started the beef farm assurance program, our compliance rates to meeting market specs was around 60-odd per cent. Well, today we're up around 88%. So producers have made on-farm change, have got better results and they've made more money out of it and we make more money out of it. So again, it's a win-win situation for both parties.

Drew Radford: You mentioned earlier some of the feedback that's going on, you were talking about workshops that are actually being done, but what else are you doing to provide carcase feedback to producers, particularly relating to animal health?

Mark Inglis: There's a few things that's going on, Drew. Number one, we've adopted and pushed fairly heavily over the years, the Livestock Data Link feedback system, which is an industry feedback system. We upload our process data plus our animal health data into that for producers to access it and, I suppose, do whatever they want to do with it, act on it, keep track of it, whatever they want to do. The second thing that we have been doing since we've been starting to collect that data is going back on-farm with our clients and we've produced, I suppose you call it a scorecard or a report card. And we'll sit down with the agents and with the producers across the table and have a discussion around their compliance levels plus their animal health outcomes and also in around meeting market specs and brand specifications. So it's a good talking point, the animal health component, it adds to what we already currently do.

Drew Radford: Mark, there seems to be a lot more data coming back to producers now. I guess though, what's important is how they then apply it.

Mark Inglis: It's interesting. It's no good collecting data for the sake of collecting data. And I've certainly been quoted as saying, processors ourselves collect a hell of a lot of data. I think in the past, we certainly haven't been very good at utilising that data within our own businesses or even feeding that information back. But again, it's got to be meaningful and that's one of the criticisms that I certainly have with some of the things that are floating around is that data's either got to give you an advantage in making more money, making it easier for you or solve a problem within your operation. And if data's not meeting those three things, it's probably not worth worrying about.

Drew Radford: So Mark, what are the top three actions that you think producers can either stop doing, start doing or change what they're doing at the moment to improve biosecurity?

Mark Inglis: What we have as a customer-based program and part of our program, it has a biosecurity plan within it. And now obviously from an industry-wide perspective, producers are required to have a biosecurity plan. So I suppose that's probably the first thing is to actually sit down and make a biosecurity plan if you haven't already got one, and look at the risks that you could possibly have within your operation and try and minimise those risks.

Drew Radford: Mark, where can people listening to this, find out more information or get more support?

Mark Inglis: Certainly, the MLA website is a great website around biosecurity, the LPA websites as well. There's a lot of industry run websites that include biosecurity, and animal disease and health in it. They're a good starting point. A lot of the department of ags or the local department of ags have fact sheets on some of the disease and defects that we currently see. I know that when I go and sit down with those producers, if we've identified some animal health issues or disease and defects, I'll print those one-pagers out or those fact sheets out for them and take them with me and leave them with the producer for them to have a look at those.

Drew Radford: Mark, some great insights as to what feedback is provided to producers and how their on-farm actions can affect processors. Mark Inglis, Farm Assurance and Supply Chain Manager with JBS Southern. Thanks for joining me in the PIRSA studio.

Mark Inglis: Thanks Drew. Absolutely my pleasure. And hopefully some of your listeners have got something out of that.

Speaker 1: To find out more information or get support in implementing better biosecurity within your business, contact your local animal health adviser from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions or the South Australian Livestock Biosecurity Extension team through the Livestock SA office. The Red Meat and Wool Growth Program is an initiative of the Government of South Australia and supported by Meat and Livestock Australia, SA Sheep and Cattle Industry Funds and SheepConnect SA.

[End of transcript.]

Speaker 1: Welcome to this Red Meat and Wool Growth Program podcast brought to you by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, Livestock SA, and Animal Health Australia.

Drew Radford: At the heart of pretty much any business transaction, is trust. That assurance that you're getting what you paid for. Which, in the case of the red meat industry, includes being clean, safe, natural, and disease free. However, in a sector that employs over 400,000 people, how do you build that in?

G’day, I'm Drew Radford, and the organisation that's responsible for this is Integrity Systems Company. To find out how, I'm joined in the PIRSA studio by their Communication and Evaluation Manager, Kathleen Allan. Kathleen, thanks for your time.

Kathleen Allan: Thanks very much for having me. Great to be here.

Drew Radford: Kathleen, we're going to delve into some of your work with Integrity Systems Company, but that's more than just a job for you because I understand you've well and truly got dirt under your boots. What's your background?

Kathleen Allan: I'm actually a sheep and cattle producer from here in southern New South Wales, based in Yass. We produce super fine Merinos mainly and some beef cattle. I guess that means that I've been living and breathing livestock production, and included in that, of course, is integrity on a very practical level, on a daily basis as well.

Drew Radford: Is farming in your blood?

Kathleen Allan: Absolutely. I'm a fifth-generation farmer, and I live here on the property with my mother in her house, just a couple of hundred metres up the hill. And I'm lucky enough to share the farm with my two daughters as well. So there's three generations here on the farm too.

Drew Radford: So, you really get firsthand the importance of traceability and food safety when it comes to the red meat sector.

Kathleen Allan: Absolutely. And over the course of my career, which I've spent over 20 years in the agriculture sector professionally, as well since I left university, I've been able to travel all around the world, and I've seen other production systems in various countries, but I've also seen red meat in markets all around the world and really understand what our customers and our consumers want, but also how highly regarded Australian red meat, and the farming sector here is. So, right through from a really practical level through to seeing our produce all around the world, which is really exciting and I'm really grateful for the opportunities that my career has presented me as well over that time, too.

Drew Radford: What role does Integrity Systems Company play in Australia's red meat system?

Kathleen Allan: So Integrity Systems Company is a subsidiary of Meat and Livestock Australia. So, Meat and Livestock Australia is the research and development organisation that's responsible for investing those transaction levies that red meat producers pay every time that livestock is sold. MLA then invest that money in research and development, and adoption, and marketing activities. So, Integrity Systems Company, we're a subsidiary of MLA, and basically, we're responsible for delivering the integrity system on behalf of red meat producers in Australia.

Drew Radford: Kathleen, I know your title. It says Communication and Evaluation Manager, but what does that actually do?

Kathleen Allan: So, what I do, on a daily basis, is that I am responsible for communication and extension activities on behalf of Integrity Systems Company. So, primarily to producers and their influencers. Or other key stakeholders in the red meat value chain, so livestock agents, transporters, processors, feed lotters, and the like. But it's all about delivering messages so that producers can meet their integrity requirements so that we can keep trading livestock and keep meeting the needs of our customers and consumers all around the world. So, I have a really varied job. It's anything from face-to-face workshops, which unfortunately we haven't been able to do for quite a number of months now, delivering webinars, social media, managing our presence on our websites and things like that, media, all sorts of things. But basically, it's working with our target audience, which is up around the 170,000 red meat producers, and helping them meet their requirements so that they can keep trading livestock.

Drew Radford: Well, keeping trading is the central tenant of all of this. So, what are the biggest risks to that in terms of the red meat integrity system?

Kathleen Allan: Well, the red meat integrity system is really, really important because it provides that assurance that our customers require. So, for many, many years, Australian red meat and Australian food products have always had a reputation for being clean and green, and high quality, and a premium product. It's really important that we, as producers of those food products are able to provide our customers with a level of assurance, and the red meat integrity system enables us to do that. The system is made up of two key elements. The first one is on-farm assurance. So, producers are required to manage their livestock and manage their property in accordance with seven requirements that are set out in the Livestock Production Assurance program. And then the other element of the integrity system is the National Livestock Identification System. And that's all about identification and traceability so that we know where all our red meat-producing livestock is located, and that then that information is added to a database when those animals move along through the value chain over the course of their life.

So, they're the two programs that make up the integrity system. And it's really, really important that through a couple of other aspects of the system, that producers are actually able to meet their requirements. So, it's really important that they keep really good records, that they are able to accurately and honestly complete things like National Vendor Declarations when they are transferring or moving livestock. And it's all about providing that customer assurance to our customers all around the world.

The Australian red meat industry now is worth $28 billion. We employ 400,000 people across 80,000 businesses now in Australia, and we supply product into 100 markets all around the world. So, it's really important that we have a level of documentation through good records and through National Vendor Declarations and things like that, but that we're also able to demonstrate to our consumers that we actually take integrity and food production really seriously, that we're managing our livestock and our property well, and that we can identify our animals and trace them through the supply chain for the course of their life as well.

Drew Radford: It's a substantial sized industry when you map it out like that, Kathleen, but the central tenant of what you're drilling down to is it's all about ensuring there is trust in our red meat supply chain.

Kathleen Allan: Yes. Absolutely. And I think the other thing that's really important is that we're a big contributor to the Australian economy, but there are a large number of producers that make up that industry. And at the moment there's over 170,000 accredited livestock producers here in Australia. And they vary from having just a couple of animals right through to our large family and corporate farms. But the important thing to note is that everybody that produces livestock has a role to play. They have certain things that they need to do, and that everybody's got a role to make sure that we can all stand by what we sell.

Drew Radford: Kathleen, there's so many members involved in the red meat supply chain and often responsibility for product integrity is passed along the chain. Where do producers fit into Australia's red meat integrity system?

Kathleen Allan: Yeah, good question. And as you said, there are certainly a number of people that make up that red meat value chain from producers through to livestock agents, the transporters that are moving livestock, feedlots, processing plants, and the like, so it is a big industry with lots of different players that make up that industry. But producers are really critical to that. And it's really important that they do the right thing to meet their integrity requirements. And sometimes producers might not realize is that they are actually food producers. So, not just a seed stock producer or a ram producer, for example, that ram might go on to another producer. But producers are a critical part of the supply chain as they are responsible for the management and the welfare of animals in their care. It's really important that they are doing everything that they can to provide that assurance as those animals move along the chain, but not to lose sight of the fact that when animals do move, that there is somebody responsible for their care and welfare and also for meeting their requirements.

Drew Radford: Why is the red meat integrity system so important for Australian producers?

Kathleen Allan: The red meat integrity system is the tick of assurance for our customers. So, what it does is it makes sure that our customers and consumers can have trust in Australian red meat. It does that through a couple of different ways. It does that through the on-farm assurance element, which is through livestock production assurance. It does that through identification and traceability, which is through the national livestock identification system. And it also does that through good record keeping, and it all comes together through the National Vendor Declaration, which of course producers will sign and provide details about the animal's history and its ownership, which is really important for lifetime traceability, but also from a food safety point of view. So, the red meat integrity system, it is crucial to providing that customer assurance. We can't just rest on our laurels or say that we are the producer of clean and green produce. We actually do need to have that level of assurance through auditable programs, such as livestock production assurance and through documentation and how we manage our livestock and our properties.

Drew Radford: Kathleen, what's the company you work for Integrity Systems Company doing to reduce the risks that we talked about back at the start?

Kathleen Allan: So, Integrity Systems Company at the moment, we've got a number of initiatives to help producers mainly, but also they’re key influencers or where producers go for advice. We have a really exciting communication and extension program where we're delivering messages to those producers in a number of ways. So, through our regular monthly newsletters, Integrity Matters. We've got a webinar program on at the moment which is delivering, I think, 24 webinars since July through to October on a whole range of topics that, again, is all about people understanding what it is that they need to do to meet their requirements under the integrity system, and we're also doing some really innovative things in terms of product development as well. So, last year there were some changes to the National Vendor Declaration, and we've also significantly improved the ENVD, and we're seeing some really great adoption and uptake of that as an alternative to doing a paper-based National Vendor Declaration.

That's a really exciting thing that I would encourage producers to try. It's also simplifying and becoming more efficient in terms of meeting your consignment paperwork requirements. And then also we've got a number of other initiatives where we're capturing data that producers are creating on-farm, but also providing that in a way that's useful. So, programs such as Livestock Data Link and things like that where you can get carcase feedback and information about animal health conditions when animals are consigned to slaughter as well. So, there's lots of initiatives, but it's all about delivering an integrity system that's easy to use, that it meets the needs of our customers, but also our producers, and there is a communication and extension program that builds that awareness.

But importantly, it's not just awareness about what producers need to do, but it's really important that they understand why the systems really important and that it's important for their business, it's important for their industry, and it is a really exciting industry to be part of at the moment, particularly COVID times. And we're all enjoying sensational prices for livestock at the moment. And it's really cognisant on us as producers to take that seriously, and to stand by what we sell and provide that level of assurance for our customers.

Drew Radford: Kathleen, you covered a lot of ground there and in amongst that you mentioned ENVD. What else do producers need to do on-farm to help enhance the integrity system?

Kathleen Allan: Apart from completing their National Vendor Declaration which they can use the ENVD now. And it's really important that when you complete your National Vendor Declaration, that it is clear, complete, and correct because it's the National Vendor Declaration where all of the integrity system comes to life. So, it's where you provide that documentation about the animal's history which is important for food safety. So, things like residues, and treatments, and ownership, and things like that. But apart from the National Vendor Declaration and making sure it's clear, complete, and correct, the other really important aspect that producers need to be mindful of is how they manage their livestock and their property on-farm. And that's set out in the Livestock Production Assurance program. And for both that and the national livestock identification system, it's really important that producers are keeping good records.

So, the livestock production assurance program is auditable. And for an audit to take place, an auditor is going to be reviewing your paperwork and your records. But record-keeping is not just something that's a requirement as part of livestock production assurance. You need to keep good records across many other business programs. And certainly, just for managing a business and then managing your animals according to those requirements. Keeping things like a buyer security plan, making sure you're across the animal welfare standards and guidelines, doing your national livestock identification system transfers, making sure that all your animals are tagged, and those types of things. But then, make sure that when you are moving animals, that you're filling out that NVD, it's clear, complete, and correct, and then you're assured that you can stand by what you sell.

Drew Radford: Kathleen, in terms of standing by what you sell, what are the top three actions that you think producers can either stop doing, start doing, or change what they're doing now to improve biosecurity through the integrity system?

Kathleen Allan: For me, I think it's all about making sure that your National Vendor Declaration is clear, complete, and correct. Making sure that you've done your NLIS transfers on the database, and when you're purchasing animals, you're responsible for that. So, check your NLIS transfers, and then the other thing would be keeping good records.

Drew Radford: Kathleen, where can those listening to this, find out more information, or even get some support?

Kathleen Allan: So, Integrity Systems Company has a great website, integritysystems.com.au. On there, you'll find everything you need to know and some great links to further resources to help you meet your requirements for both livestock production assurance and NLIS. We're across all the usual social media channels. So, Facebook and Twitter, we've got some great resources on YouTube. So, some animations about how to complete your NVD, how to start using the ENVD as well as some great animations as well about how the actual integrity system works, and some case studies as well. And the other thing is our monthly e-newsletter called Integrity Matters, which goes out each month. You can subscribe to that on our website, and then, of course, we've got a fantastic customer service team that you can also ring as well. And they're available from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM, five days a week to help you with all your LPA, NLIS, and NVD requirements as well.

Drew Radford: Kathleen, there is a lot involved to ensure trust is maintained in Australia's red meat system. Thank you for joining me in the PIRSA studio to discuss Integrity Systems Company role in that.

Kathleen Allan: Thank you very much, Drew. It's been great.

Speaker 1: To find out more information or get support in implementing better buyer security within your business, contact your local animal health advisor from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions or the South Australian Livestock Biosecurity Extension team through the Livestock SA office. The Red Meat and Wool Growth Program is an initiative of the government of South Australia and supported by Meat and Livestock Australia, SA Sheep and Cattle Industry Funds, and SheepConnect SA.

[End of transcript.]