Castrating and spaying are important husbandry techniques to prevent unwanted breeding in livestock. Castration is a regular part of cattle, sheep and goat husbandry in Australia. Spaying is a largely restricted to cattle in northern Australia in situations where control of bulls is difficult. Best practice procedure for castration and...

Tail docking and mulesing are husbandry procedures of sheep to prevent flystrike. Tail docking may also be required to meet some market requirements. Reliance on mulesing to prevent flystrike can be lessened by a breeding program aimed at reducing breech wrinkle/cover. British breed and cross bred prime lamb mothers are unlikely...

Beef producers particularly in southern Australia need to be vigilant now and in coming weeks to minimise stock losses from bloat as near perfect conditions align for strong legume growth.

This is the fifth part in our series on planning for tough seasons. Here's some expert advice for producers on the considerations for destocking herds and flocks through dry seasons.

This is the fifth part in our series on planning for tough seasons. Here's some expert advice for producers on the considerations for destocking herds and flocks through dry seasons.

Australian cattle, sheep and goat producers will have their knowledge of on-farm food safety requirements assessed from January next year. For the first time, producers will need to successfully complete a compulsory online assessment in order to renew their Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) accreditation. “The assessment is a really important...

From floods to fires, 2022 has already presented the extremes of climatic challenges, creating widespread disruption to the national livestock supply chain.

Direct-to-buyer sales (i.e., those that circumvent saleyards) have increased over the past three decades, particularly since the advent of accurate and objective carcase description. While many existing saleyard operators provide a general assembly-and-dispatch service to livestock vendors, buyers and/or their agents, the future survival of yards will become increasingly dependent...

Final Report

​Post mortem cut ageing is an important part of the Meat Standards Australia Australia (MSA) prediction model however presents challenges in relation to developing precise estimates due to the interactions with factors such as; animal genetics, muscle calpastatin levels, HGP use, pH and temperature during ageing which are all likely...