SA footrot recommendations released

The independent review was commissioned by Livestock SA in October last year, following concerns raised within the industry about the effectiveness of the program and its alleged negative impacts, including a reduction in sheep presented to South East saleyards.

Options examined during the review included maintaining the current program - funded by the SA Sheep Industry Fund and managed by PIRSA -, introducing an enhanced regulatory program, enhanced industry management, and full deregulation.

The livestock industry has funded the program for decades (a $910,000 cost in 2023/24) and there has been calls for a relaxation of restrictions.

SE agents have been concerned about farmers preferring to sell at interstate markets with relaxed restrictions, while there has also been cases of misdiagnosis at markets, frustrating some producers.

The review landed on the conclusion that any future footrot control program for SA should be jointly designed and managed by industry and government.

Livestock SA president Joe Keynes said while it had been hoped the review would result in a "clear cut recommendation", the range of opinions within the industry meant more consultation was needed.

An industry-led steering committee will be organised by Livestock SA to implement review recommendations, with nominations sought soon.

Interim arrangements for SE saleyards footrot management will be reviewed and extended for the 2024/2025 selling season.

The review included one-on-one interviews with more than 60 producers, livestock agents, saleyard staff, vets and contractors across SA, while 270 responses were received in an online survey.

"There is a wide range of opinions within the industry about how best to manage footrot and who should pay for this, making it challenging to design an effective, broadly supported program," Mr Keynes said.

"The review has provided a much clearer understanding of footrot in SA, shedding light on the persistent stigmas associated with the disease and underscoring the necessity for enhanced education to support prevention and management strategies."

PIRSA statistics show that a move to 'terminal only' sales in the SE in August last year, and a change in the approach to surveillance and inspection of footrot, had coincided with increased sheep throughput of 22 per cent at Mount Gambier and 8pc at Naracoorte.

A PIRSA spokesperson said it could not be determined whether or not that increase was attributable to the new arrangements alone.

Elders Naracoorte livestock manager Josh Reeves said the interim selling measures had started well, but had quickly gone "pear-shaped".

"In the main selling period of September to early December throughput was up off the back of producer confidence that they could trade in there with little restrictions," he said.

"That changed from very little feet inspection to quite the opposite and numbers have dropped off since, because word got out that people's understanding of the agreement wasn't quite what we thought it was."

Mr Reeves said agents were happy with the review findings, but the next steps were most important.

"We'd like to see lower regulation and it be more streamlined with Vic and NSW because there has been huge amounts of sheep going across the border, with producers avoiding any potential repercussions if there was an issue," he said.

Mr Reeves said some producers had been willing to take a lower price across the border because any discount on a load of sheep didn't compare to the costs of one to two years quarantine.

Tantanoola sheep producer Peter Altschwager believes the proportion of the Sheep Industry Fund levy which goes towards the footrot management program is "incredibly cheap insurance" to prevent the disease becoming more prevalent in SA.

He says an error of judgement as a young farmer buying in some infected stock from the Newmarket yards in the 1970s has had an enormous effect on his attitude to disease.

At the time his farm was in 10 to 12 blocks and being unable to move on sheep on roadways, he made the difficult decision to sell to slaughter his entire 7500 head Merino flock and with it decades of breeding.

"It nearly broke my back, it nearly broke my bank and nearly broke my marriage," he said.

Since then he has been footrot free but says the experience made him realise "we don't need disease in the industry".

"We should be always aiming to lift producers up to the highest standards not just bringing everyone down to the same level," he said.

Mr Altschwager has no qualms if SE producers want to sell disease suspect stock in Vic where they have a "long history of low health standards", but does not accept agents' claims that the drop in yardings is being driven by producers fearful of the disease being detected or falsely detected.

He says producers' decisions to sell in Vic markets is more about maximising buyer competition.

"When the flock was rebuilding after the droughts the eastern states meat buyers were coming further south to markets such as Ballarat and Hamilton because the availability of livestock was not further up but they didn't often come to Naracoorte or Mount Gambier," he said.

He is disappointed that Livestock SA , without consultation, supported the SE agents plan to temporarily make Naracoorte and Mount Gambier weekly 'terminal' markets. He believes sheep producers should have a stronger say than agents as they have more "skin in the game".

"Sure agents earn their livelihood from selling stock but they can just move on to another client, if we fall over (with footrot) it costs us millions of dollars," Mr Altschwager said.

"Even just allowing two to three sales can spread the disease a lot."

Mr Altschwager insists he is not one to stop progress but says maintaining the status quo with saleyard surveillance and support for vaccination of infected flocks will have far greater benefit to the industry keeping the disease at a low level than deregulation, which will assist just a few.