MORE than 40 young members of the Queensland Country Meat Processors Association gathered on the Darling Downs last week to complete a new training initiative designed to address key issues around animal welfare.
The three-day course saw participants complete three modules on animal welfare and handling through the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE (SQIT) and also included a practical tour of Oakey Holdings to see firsthand how animal welfare issues are addressed at an export works.
QCMPA president Scott Glasser said the training was an important first step in the development of an holistic animal welfare policy for the QCMPA.
"With Safe Food Queensland we will be putting together a joint policy to handle ongoing animal welfare issues," he said.
"Our aim is to develop a policy that sets parameters with Safe Foods Queensland that we will have to comply with.
"As an organisation we want to be very clear about how we deal with ongoing animal welfare issues and we will continue to provide training to ensure that individual plants are complying with Australian standards."
The training is also part of the QCMPA's annual Young Guns initiative which brings together young members from across Queensland to discuss issues facing smaller operators in the processing sector.
"This is the first time that we have actually run a collective training course on animal welfare and it will involve observing and learning about the handling of animals pre-slaughter and at slaughter to make sure we all comply with Australian standards," he said.
"We have members travelling from all over Queensland for the training with some coming from as far away as Tully and Richmond.
"Previously, our members would have done this training individually onsite, but we wanted to come together as an organisation to do it, because not only is it more cost-effective, but it also gives us an opportunity to talk about animal welfare which is a major issue for our industry.
"This initiative is a joint venture between QCMPA, SQIT, Meat and Livestock Australia and the Australian Meat Industry Council."
Mr Glasser, who owns and operates Millmerran Meat Holdings Limited, said many smaller meatworks had the advantage of employing staff who had previous experience in animal handling.
"Most of our members have been involved with animals most of their lives and have already completed some animal welfare training modules," he said.
"Because our operations are only small, our employees need to be able to do everything from the handling of the animal when it first arrives, right through to the other end.
"We also don't have issues of long travel for stock because most of our stock are sourced locally which reduces the stress on the animals.
"It's very rare that animals are held over in smaller meatworks too - usually they arrive one afternoon and are processed the next day."
Mick Stubbin has worked at Millmerran Meat Holdings for the past ten years and is now the works supervisor.
The plant employs four men and processes about 40 head of cattle, 150 sheep and lambs and 15 pigs per week.
Mr Stubbin participated in the training and believed it was a great opportunity to network with others in the industry.
"It's very important for the industry to get the animal welfare side of things just right and these modules will add to those we have already completed," he said.
"We practice this stuff all day every day but there is always something new that you can learn and that's what this training is about."
Mr Stubbin said he had attended several Young Guns events with the QCMPA and always found them very beneficial.
"You get to meet blokes like Scott who have been in the industry for a while and talk through issues," he said.
"I always seem to take something out of it and this year will be the first that we actually walk away with a couple of modules under our belts."