Researchers from the University of Queensland and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries were in Roma on Tuesday as part of a three-stop tour through the region, giving updates on pimelea research.
Funded by cash contributions from graziers, and $1.5 million from Meat and Livestock Australia, rumen research is currently being undertaken by the University of Queensland into plant toxins with a focus on pimelea.
AgForce Southern Inland Queensland regional manager, Sharon Purcell, said that funding has been set aside to use for a rumen inoculant research.
“In other words, trying to find a drench-like product that cattle can be given before going into pimelea country to increase their tolerance of pimelea,” she said.
“The research will also look at their absorbency compounds, their effectiveness, and in what capacity and what rate they should be given.”
Natural toxin chemist at the University of Queensland, Associate Professor Mary Fletcher, said because pimelea was a native plant and it was unlikely to ever be controlled in the pasture, the rumen focus was the best course of action.
“The whole argument behind our research is that if we can keep the toxin in the rumen, if we can break it down in the rumen, and if we can stop it being absorbed, then the cattle won't be infected,” she said.
“The way the toxin works, it gets into the circulatory system of the animal and affects the muscles in the pulmonary - if we can stop it getting into the circulatory system, we can stop the poisoning occurring.
“So far, we've done a lot of exploratory work, working out mechanisms for monitoring the toxin, and we've got a range of absorbents that we're trialing.”
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries rumen microbiologist, Diane Ouwerkerk, said with the MLA levy money funding, they were looking at trying to enrich the rumen bacteria that can break down the toxin.
“We've collected rumen fluid from both unaffected and affected animals,” she siad.
“We've collected from feral goats, domesticated goats, sheep and kangaroos, because we're looking at a broad range of herbivores to try and maximise the potential of getting bacteria that might break it down.”
The hope is that the artificial rumen fermentations being conducted in the lab will yield information that can be used in the creation of an inoculant or drench-like solution.
