As feedlot owners become increasingly committed to provide better protection for their cattle, an e-petition demanding mandatory shade for all farm animals is before Queensland Parliament.
On December 20, the e-petition from principal petitioner Morika Elek was posted on the state government's petitions website.
The e-petition said, "there is presently no mandatory requirement for the provision of shade shelter from the climate crisis for farmed animals in the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 (abd) authorities lack power to prosecute offenders for neglect of duty of care".
The petitioners said a lack of suitable shelter leads to extreme suffering and deaths of hundreds of thousands of farmed animals each year from hypothermia or exposure to sun during heatwaves.
"Mandatory codes are required to empower to inspectors to investigate and as necessary prosecute with penalties commensurate with the degree of neglect" and a "lack of shelter must be seen as a specific abuse with specific legislation to prosecute offenders," the petitioners said.
However, industry groups and commercial entities said primary producers are aware of the need to providing shade.
In 2020 the Australian Lot Feeders' Association announced it wanted to have all feedlots supplying shade to cattle by 2026.
Now with two years to deadline, ALFA president Barb Madden said the benefits of shade have been accepted by their members.
"The Australian cattle feedlot industry has embraced the benefits of shade and is making good progress against ALFA's goal for all cattle in feedlots to have access to shade by 2026," she said.
"Since the launch of this initiative in 2020, the number of cattle under shade has increased from around 810,000 head (56 per cent of Australia's feedlot capacity) in mid-2020 to 1,060,500 head (68 pc of capacity) in mid-2023.
"This result is even more impressive given the installation of shade was heavily disrupted by the pandemic's impact on building materials and construction."
Mrs Madden said ALFA set the goal for shade to be available in 100 pc of feedlots by 2026.
"Because we believed it was achievable and it builds on the feedlot industry's already strong commitment to animal welfare," she said.
"Our position hasn't changed on this and ALFA continues to encourage facilities to investigate and install shade.
"We understand there are a range of challenges that individual businesses may face in installing shade, so we need to ensure we work with operators to overcome any obstacles and allow sufficient planning and installation time for shade that suits their operations.
"We have developed a Shade Hub on our website that provides a comprehensive collection point of resources and guidance to help support feedlot businesses to plan, design, finance, manufacture and install shade.
"From my own experience, shade has been a tremendous investment in ensuring cattle comfort across the summer months, and this cattle comfort has directly and positively impacted performance.
"We continue to support grain fed levy investment through Meat & Livestock Australia in this area, including projects to develop additional types of shade solutions for the feedlot industry.
"Livestock care is fundamental to the success and sustainability of every feedlot and our industry remains committed to continuous improvement to help manage feedlot cattle during the summer months, and to deliver animal welfare outcomes that meet and exceed Australian expectations and standards."
But the Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner, disputed the claims made in the e-petition.
"It is disappointing to see a petition that includes such erroneous information circulated as fact and potentially misleading Queenslanders," he said.
"There is no evidence to support the petition's claim that a lack of appropriate shade 'leads to extreme suffering and deaths of hundreds of thousands of farmed animals each year'.
"It is also false to claim that neglect of animals leading to harm is unable to be prosecuted under the Animal Care and Protection Act."
Mr Furner said under the Act, people or organisations in charge of animals have a duty of care towards those animals to provide appropriate care by providing for their needs in a reasonable way. This includes livestock.
This duty of care extends to: providing food and water and accommodation or living conditions; Understanding your animal's normal behavioural patterns; Treating disease and injury; and Handling the animal appropriately, he said.
"The vast majority of Queensland livestock producers understand that properly caring for their livestock means higher quality products and ultimately beneficial commercial outcomes," Mr Furner said.
"I stand by those Queensland farmers - the backbone of our $24 billion industry - and the way they conduct their business."
Meanwhile, agriculture protection firm Netpro Group's product development manager Mick Thompson, said feedlot operators certainly recognise the benefits of investing in shade protection for their animals.
"There has been a significant increase in the installation of shade in the feedlot industry since we installed our first shades 15 years ago, the industry is very proactive in providing shade at their facilities," he said.
"The most popular type is a strip shade running north-south providing approximately 3 square metres to 3.5 sqm of shade per animal.
"I see the installation of shade in new and existing feedlots continuing across the feedlot industry."
In 2020, at Smithfield Cattle Company's Sapphire Feedlot at Goondiwindi, improvements to cattle welfare included shade cloth allowing for 4.5 square metres of shade per beast, which was almost double the industry standard, erected at a cost of $80/beast.
Anyone with information about any failure to meet the duty of care for livestock should report it to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries on 13 25 23.
Know more about this issue? Contact Alison Paterson on 0437 861 082
