Influence of pre-delivery management on livestock performance: Desk Top Study

Summary

The joint Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA)/LiveCorp project LIVE.104, “Desk Top Study” is the first stage of a project that aims to deliver best practice guidelines on the optimal pre-delivery management of livestock for export. This project examines the management of livestock during the pre-embarkation phase and the resulting effect on animal performance during the remainder of the export process. It specifically focuses on the management of stock at the farm of origin and during land transport en-route to the export pre-embarkation site or assembly feedlot.

The desk top study consisted of a review of the scientific literature and industry standards and, a survey of the live export industry to investigate the influence of pre-delivery management on the performance of cattle and sheep during live export. It reviews and identifies key on-farm and transport factors that are associated with deaths and decreased performance during live export. Suggestions for best practice recommendations to manage these factors and recommendations for further research are provided. It is envisaged that the field trials and development of new best practice guidelines would be carried out in the second stage of the project along with the development of a communication strategy to maximise uptake of the guidelines by industry

Stress during the pre-delivery phase of live export will contribute to decreased performance during live export. Stress causes poor performance and all the known causes of stress in livestock production systems are present during the pre-delivery phase of live export. Measuring the effects of this stress accurately and identifying and managing the specific pre-delivery causes of stress that lead to decreased performance during live export is needed for effective pre-delivery management.

Clinical indicators of stress are more sensitive than mortality rates and can be easily measured. Consideration should be given to using a clinical indicator of stress such as liveweight changes, feed intake and level of illness as an industry performance indicator and during research, especially considering that mortality rates are already so low. Demonstrating to the general community the positive steps being taken by the industry to improve animal welfare would be helped by measuring more sensitive indicators and would assist in studying relationships between pre-delivery factors and livestock performance.

Adhering to sound animal husbandry principles and conducting all on-farm and transport operations in a manner that causes minimal stress to livestock will help in improving animal welfare and enhancing live export performance. The Model Code of Practice for the Land Transport of Cattle and the Australian Livestock Export Standards recognise this and provide general guidelines. However, specific pre-delivery causes of poor performance during live export need to be identified and these standards examined to determine if those factors are adequately covered.

Following are the key findings and recommendations of the desk top study. These findings identify key pre-delivery factors associated with deaths and poor performance and analyse the extent to which these are currently being addressed by existing standards and best practices. Suggestions for best practices are provided for those factors that can be validated and are not adequately managed by existing standards. Recommendations for further research to investigate key factors where required are provided in priority order.​​