Department of Agriculture officials say they do not expect a significant drop in the number of producers choosing to brand their stock, despite the state government exploring the option of scrapping Queensland's mandatory branding laws in favour of a voluntary system.
Around 300 producers attended one of two online webinars hosted by AgForce this week, where DAF officials outlined the government's consultation process and the possible options being explored in replacement of the current laws.
At the end of the webinars, AgForce ran a poll for attendees to gauge a feeling from producers in response to the proposed changes.
Of the 58 people who responded to the poll in Wednesday's webinar, 76 per cent said that they would prefer livestock branding in Queensland to remain mandatory, while 69 per cent said they would be prepared to pay the 60 to 70 dollar annual renewal fee to keep their brand.
The two proposed options which could be implemented in place of the current laws include an "opt-in" option, where livestock owners would have the freedom to chose whether or not they brand their animals, or producers would have the opportunity to "opt-out" of compulsory branding by registering for a self-exemption.
DAF deputy director-general and chief biosecurity officer Malcolm Letts said regardless of the review's result, they did not expect any drastic changes to branding practice from producers.
"If one of the voluntary options is chosen, for example, we're not anticipating that a whole lot of people are going to stop branding cattle and we don't anticipate seeing huge practice change in a short space of time," Mr Letts said.
DAF director Marguerite Clarke agreed, saying they had heard from producers, particularly in the northern end of the state, who believed it was in their best interest to brand their stock, and that they would continue to do so regardless of the outcome.
"Anecdotally, some of the suggestions we've had back is that, particularly in the north and the west, there's unlikely to be any change to the incidence of branding; a lot of people will just continue branding," Ms Clarke said.
"There's probably a little bit more interest from some people in the south, in the option of voluntary branding."
Producers were able to voice their queries and concerns during the webinar, with the issues of stock theft and the new payment scheme being brought up by numerous attendees.
Ms Clarke assured attendees that none of the proposed options would stop producers from continuing to brand, and they would still be able to do so in the interest of preventing theft, but that the NLIS system was now more effective in tracing cattle.
"While the legislation has hardly changed in decades, there have been major changes in the industry, so with advances in technology, NLIS now provides a far more effective way of tracing cattle," she said.
"Crucially, the number of cattle movements has increased dramatically. There were an average of 31,000 cattle movements per day in 2021-2022. That's 5.95 million in 12 months in Queensland.
"It's tracing cattle movements that are key in a disease outbreak and the brand system can no longer achieve the sort of traceability that's needed when cattle are moved that many times.
"For cattle, brands now play no role in biosecurity tracing at all."
Some responses from producers noted that they had not found NLIS tags to be effective at preventing stock theft, given that the tags could easily be removed.
The proposed price rise and new fee structure was also a talking point during the webinar, with Ms Clarke confirming that the funds would cover the support of a new IT system and administration costs.
"The fees currently being charged only cover about 11 per cent of the cost of the staffing levels and IT systems needed to administer brands," Ms Clarke said.
"That means that general taxpayers are subsidising around 89 per cent of the costs of the government providing a service for producers' private benefit.
"Obviously that money could be put to alternate uses, including to prevent, and prepare, and respond to significant biosecurity threats posed to livestock industries.
"That's why under all options, new fees are proposed to support the implementation of the new IT system and for the ongoing administration of brands and earmarks."
Subscribers have access to download our free app today from the App Store or Google Play
Ms Clarke also said that the rise in prices would hopefully encourage producers to return brands that they were no longer using, thus making them available to others looking to register a new brand
"Having a renewal fee will cover administration costs and it'll also prompt people to surrender brands that they're not using or don't want, and hopefully free up unused brands for livestock producers who currently find it hard to register a brand that they want," she said.
Several producers also asked questions surrounding available payment options, such as family bundles for those with a number of brands, or a longer term renewal rather than an annual payment.
DAF officials said that government was open to discussion surrounding specific payment plans and the structure of fees, going forward.
Consultation submissions will close this Sunday, January 15, and can be made via daf.engagementhub.com.au.
