Keep us clean and free
Victoria, and Australia, enjoy a global reputation for being free of mad cow disease also known as BSE.
Stock food manufacturers, sellers of stock food and livestock producers all have a role in protecting our BSE free status by rigorous adherence to the Ruminant Feed Ban.
The Ruminant Feed Ban is the banning of feeding of restricted animal material to ruminants. Ruminant animals include cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, deer, and camels.
Restricted animal material is any material taken from a vertebrate animal, other than tallow, gelatin, milk and milk products.
It includes meat, meat and bone meal, blood meal, fish meal, poultry meal and feather meal, manure, and compounded feeds made from these products.
The Ruminant Feed Ban serves to ensure that if the BSE disease agent were ever introduced to Australia it would not be able to be amplified and establish a cycle of infection.
The fundamental aim for the Ruminant Feed Ban is the protection of public and animal health, and the interests of trade.
Victoria has had a legislated Ruminant Feed Ban since 1996.
Manufacturers, suppliers and sellers of stock food (i.e. any manufactured food for feeding to livestock) containing Restricted Animal Material are required to ensure that stock food is appropriately labelled.
For bulk product the labelling may be applied to an invoice. For feed or meal in bags a tag must be attached to the product.
Livestock producers, must not feed restricted animal material or any product labelled as containing restricted animal material, to a ruminant.
Agriculture Victoria animal health and welfare staff are currently carrying out audits which target all sectors of the livestock feed chain from renderers, to stock food manufacturers, stock food resellers and livestock producers.
In addition to the Ruminant Feed Ban, other activities contributing to the maintenance of Australia’s free status for BSE, and the ability to provide an on-going assurance of freedom, include:
Quarantine measures to prevent entry into the country of the BSE agent;
General and targeted surveillance programs;
Lifetime surveillance and post-arrival import controls and ‘buy back’ schemes for certain categories of imported cattle.
Market report for 7th and 8th March Wednesday Fat Sale 426 head. Thursday Bull and Cow Sale 9 bulls, 302 cows.
Numbers rose slightly for the fat sale, with the yard average up 6 cents. Bullocks sold to steady demand, heifer and vealer numbers rose. Steer numbers were slightly up on last week forcing values back. The vealer pens saw steady demand in the top end pens but struggled as the condition eased. This week’s yard average rose to 267.1 cents.
14 bullocks made to 259.6, up 4 and averaged 246.8 cents, up 5.8 cents. 20 heifers made to 260.0, up 1.8 and averaged 230.8. 32 steers made to 272.2, up 16.6 and averaged 257.8. 353 veal made to 335.0, up 8.8 and averaged 274.2, up 2.8.
On Thursday with the bull and cow sale, numbers were back with 9 bulls penned. The top slipped to 236.2 cents, with the average up 10.9 to 223.9 on back of good quality and weights. 275 cows sold to a top of 225.0, back 18.2, bringing the average back to 160.4. Because of this the yard average 12.2 cents to 165.7.
1 BazX 1 LimX 1 Lim 1 Lim 1 LimX 2 Lim 2 Lim 1 Lim Steers 4 Ang 4 Ang 7 Hfd 2 Ang Heifer 1 Char Paul Rosato, Moe Export Cows and Heifers 1 GelbX J Jones, Rokeby 9 SimX MJ&I Crawford, Darnum 1 Ang G Dessent, Darnum 1 M/G F Bragagnolo, Trafalgar Dairy Cows 1 Frn WD Corbett, Nilma North 620 1 Frn M Moyes, Shady Creek 650 1 Frn MB&JA Winter, Wgl Sth 725 1 Frn Wildwood, Dairies, Lardner 755 1 Frn Jarvis Holding, Cloverlea 678 1 Frn K&R Woolstencroft, N/East 670 Steers 1 M/G Bulls 1 Char 3 Ang 1 P/Hfd 1 Lim
BJ &HM Arbuthnot, G/G JH Vicary, Drouin Pharoah/McPherson, D/W Bedad P/L, Thorpdale E&R Crowe, Narracan I&A Hancock, Poowong D&J Purvis, Modella S Failla, Willow Grove
McCrorey P/L, Trafalgar Rural Air Services, Warragul JW & LM O’Brien, Noojee J Wagner, Nilma North Schweighofer, G/borough
Kovarl P/L, Thorpdale 1030 236.2 2434 Bally Kenny, Drouin West 700 229.6 1607 BJ&WT Williams, L/touche 1060 229.2 2429 Bally Kenny, Drouin West 875 199.6 1700
1. Landmark, 2.
Gibbon, 3. Elders, 4. SEJ, 5. Scotts.
375 410 440 336 435 445 425 340
470 551 552 560
550
660 642 720 580 920
335.0 332.0 324.2 321.2 320.0 320.0 318.0 315.0
270.6 259.6 256.6 252.0
259.6
209.2 206.8 196.6 194.6
1256 1361 1427 1080 1392 1424 1351 1071
1271 1430 1416 1411
1427
1380 1326 1415 1128
188.6 1169 184.6 1199 184.2 1335 182.2 1375 182.2 1235 182.2 1220
216.2 1989