PLUGGING any gaps in compliance with Australia's national system for tracing livestock will be a key step in the ongoing battle to keep the country free of foot and mouth and lumpy skin disease.
So too urging the federal government to shut the doors to dried meat imports like pork floss.
Both these were identified by producers at beef industry seminars and meetings held in conjunction with the Royal Queensland Show this month.
Queensland producer Blair Angus, Signature Beef, told the Droughtmaster Society's conference many in the beef industry were surprised to learn Australia imported pork floss from China.
Biosecurity screenings detected viral fragments of FMD, and African swine fever, in pork floss for sale in Melbourne.
"Seriously, that product should never have entered Australia - that is where the big risk is," Mr Angus said.
"If a product like this pork floss got fed to a pig, we are in a lot of trouble. As an industry, we need to be talking to the pollies about tightening up that sort of thing.
"These diseases are rampant in China and we're bringing in a product that could compromise our whole industry."
Northern Territory Cattlemens' Association president David Connolly said his organisation advocated that Australia's best defense was Indonesia's offense.
"We don't support the closure of borders. Our largest live cattle trading partner and fourth largest boxed beef partner is Indonesia," he said.
"FMD won't ever leave Indonesia so if we closed the border to Bali, for how long? Forever?
"Instead, we advocate getting over there and helping them control it."
Mr Connolly said FMD had been knocking on Australia's door for 30 years and our border forces were doing a good job of protecting the country.
"We are less worried about FMD than lumpy skin," he said.
"We have very good control measures in place for FMD but LSD can fly in, we can't stop it.
"In the Territory, some of the cowboy attitudes to NLIS (the National Livestock Identification System) are not good enough."
The use of national vendor declarations was not widespread as most NT cattlemen and women were not accredited with the Livestock Production Assurance scheme, he reported.
"We need to be - we're in the food business," Mr Connolly said.
Containing FMD in Indonesia will be very difficult, Greg Pankhurst, Lampung Livestock Consultancy, told various audiences at the Ekka.
"There is mass movement of products by simple methods and that is how the disease is spreading so easily throughout Indonesia," he said.
"There is no NLIS and no NVDs, as there is in Australia. It would take years to implement those sort of systems in Indonesia."
In Bali alone, there were 600,000 cattle, 700,000 pigs and 40,000 goats - that's alot of livestock on a tiny Island, Mr Pankhurst said.
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
