A NEW video series is about to provide producers with greater insight into diseases that cost producers and the industry a lot of money, and its mostly about recognising it before a penalty at the abattoir.
Conditions that were previously monitored through the Enhanced Abattoir Surveillance Program are being explored across six videos developed by Livestock SA's Livestock Biosecurity Extension Project with support from PIRSA's Red Meat and Wool Growth Program, Animal Health Australia and the University of Adelaide.
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All videos also feature a producer case study, showcasing how the EAS program data helped them to identify and then manage the condition on their property.
Detecting, monitoring and managing sheep health conditions that have an impact on carcase quality and animal welfare will be pulled a part in the videos, as some sheep health conditions can have an impact on carcase quality and animal welfare without being detected on-farm.
Instead, health conditions are picked up at the abattoir when it is too little too late, costing producers and processors money.
The conditions that feature in the videos are arthritis, rib fractures, pleurisy and pneumonia, grass seeds, cheesy gland or CLA, and sheep measles.
While the provision of feedback to producers from the EAS program finished at the end of 2021, the health conditions remain problematic for SA sheep producers.
Livestock SA project manager Pene Keynes said it was great to work collaboratively with the organisations that were committed to achieving positive outcomes for the SA red meat and wool sectors.
"Each video provides an overview of the condition, its prevalence in SA, the impact it has on the carcass and how to treat or prevent the condition on farm."
Red Meat and Wool Growth program manager Emily Mellor said it was fantastic to see industry experts feature in the videos.
"Having enthusiastic industry experts featured in these videos to support SA meat producers is an example of industry working together to improve red meat product quality and achieve great outcomes.
"It was also wonderful to see livestock producers willing to share their stories about how they are managing these conditions on-farm to provide learnings to their fellow producers."
The videos are available on the PIRSA website.
Producers can also access the sheep health conditions - carcass impacts tool and facts sheets about the conditions and historical benchmarking on the PIRSA website and work with Livestock SA to explore ways to manage these conditions on-farm.
