On-farm risk management
On-farm risk management includes all actions taken by livestock producers to ensure that production is non-hazardous, traceable, safe and, if intended, fit for human consumption.
The Australian agricultural industry's stringent approach to on-farm risk management has resulted in Australia being recognised as a world leader in food safety. Producers instinctively work to protect their business and reputation through activities such as:
By implementing on-farm risk management practices, each individual can do their part to reinforce Australia's reputation as the preferred global supplier of high quality, safe red meat. Potential risks to livestock and the enterprise can occur in the following areas and need to be addressed through risk assessment and management practices.
Locust control operations
The following information provides details on hatchings, infestation levels, control measures and operations, and planned responses in regions across Australia:
Residues
In order to ensure that red meat from livestock remains safe for human consumption, it is important to understand, abide by and report on chemical withholding periods (WHPs) and export slaughter intervals (ESIs). Producers should be aware of the importance of recording treatments on appropriate vendor declarations.
Feeding
If buying in feed for livestock, for example in a drought or to supplementary feed, potential risks can be minimised through attaining a completed commodity vendor declaration (CVD), by-product vendor declaration (BVD) or fodder vendor declaration (FVD) from the supplier. This will indicate if the feed has been exposed to any chemicals and allow producers to confidently answer associated questions on the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) National Vendor Declaration and Waybill (NVD/Waybill).
Livestock producers need to be aware of chemical residues when purchasing and feeding supplementary feeds and/or by-product feeds to livestock.
SAFEMEAT provides stockfeed risk assessment documents for various alternate fodders
Diseases
For the sake of the industry, every producer needs to protect their farm from the introduction of diseases. The following programs and tools have been designed to assist producers in this and to help protect the broader industry:
Record Keeping
Keeping good records makes it easy for producers to manage risk and comply with industry protection programs such as LPA. It is important not to see record keeping as an impost, but rather as an important component of business management to support claims and assist in decision making.
Each individual's on-farm risk management program is vital in ensuring that Australian red meat is as safe and the high level of quality Australia's global markets have come to expect.
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