Chinchilla cattle ticks spread to property west of Tara

Calls for better surveillance and education

PRODUCERS concerned about cattle tick infestation have been left feeling “frightened of future outbreaks” after a “dissatisfying” meeting with the Department of Agriculture.

That is the opinion of Landmark livestock agent Terry Ryan, who attended the meeting held in Chinchilla, Queensland, this week.

Rural Weekly caught up with Mr Ryan and AgForce tick committee member Rob Lethbridge, who both attended the meeting.

The meeting was run by David McNab, tick manager for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, with the help of other Biosecurity Queensland officers from Mundubbera and Dalby.

Within the last few months infestations have occurred on three adjoining properties in Chinchilla and one in Tara, which all sit within Queensland’s tick-free zone.

Biosecurity Queensland said the meeting would help graziers understand how to maintain their obligations in the cattle tick-free zone.

But Mr Ryan said the 70-80 local producers in attendance left feeling “very dissatisfied, still not really knowing what’s going on, and frightened of future outbreaks”.

Mr Ryan said the department shared plenty of knowledge about the life cycle of ticks, and where they can come from, but shared little on how to eradicate them.

“The biggest thing I got from the meeting was that you need to put in your own biosecurity plan and deal with that yourself,” Mr Ryan said.

“My concern in this local area is the graziers are very inexperienced in this field and I don’t think they know enough about how to deal with ticks.”

At the meeting, Biosecurity Queensland said the Tara and Chinchilla outbreaks were related but would not reveal the properties where the ticks were located.

It is believed the outbreak was not caused by illegal movement across the tick-line however Biosecurity Queensland is still investigating the cause.

Mr Ryan said the department had focused on infected properties and not all surrounding properties had been inspected for the ticks.

“Those ticks were reported on May 15 and it was late June before the department came out and made a public announcement,” Mr Ryan said.

“They said the Tara incident was related to the Chinchilla properties, so that movement could have been made well before they knew there were ticks out there.”

Mr Ryan said Biosecurity Queensland said there were 171 infected properties within the tick-free zone in Queensland. He said people have been disappointed by the new rules since they were changed in 2016 to allow on-farm tick inspections.

“The general thought is that the system has fallen down since they made the new rules,” he said.

“They just said to keep an eye on your livestock, even if you buy cattle from clean area, give them a treatment and keep them in a holding pen for two weeks.

“DAF has put all the responsibility back to the graziers. By putting those Chinchilla people on, they’re getting inexperienced people to look for ticks.

“I’d like it to go back to when any cattle crossing the tick line had to go through a tick station and get cleared.”

AgForce tick committee member Rob Lethridge said producers learnt a lot about ticks in the meeting, but felt the government wasn’t doing enough to prevent them from coming into the tick-free zone.

“They were telling us about ticks because a lot of people out there don’t know a lot about them,” Mr Lethbridge said.

“But then we’re told, with the new biosecurity rules, that we have to look after them ourselves.

“I think they got a lot out of the meeting but the dissatisfaction came with how they (the ticks) got to Chinchilla.”

Mr Lethbridge is from the Taroom area which has had tick outbreaks in the past.

“The department is doing surveillance right around the outbreak (in Chinchilla) which hasn’t happened at the outbreak in Taroom,” he said.

Mr Lethbridge said he hoped this was a step in the right direction for DAF management of cattle ticks.

❝ The system has fallen down since they made the new rules (in 2016) — Terry Ryan

LONG PROCESS

A Biosecurity Queensland spokesman told Rural Weekly the length of time a property will be under restrictions depends on the effectiveness of cattle tick eradication programs conducted over the coming summer.

“Affected properties will be inspected in March 2020 to assess the effectiveness of the eradication program and if the eradication program has been successful, it is anticipated that restrictions will be lifted around June 2020,” he said.

“If the eradication program has not been successful, a second round of the eradication program will commence in the summer of 2020.

“Restrictions will be not lifted until it has been confirmed that ticks have been eradicated.”

Producers will still be able to sell and move cattle, but all movements need to be accessed by an accredited inspector.

The spokesman said the cost of eradication programs vary “depending on the type of program producers use and is influenced by a number of factors such as the cost of chemicals, labour and equipment”.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT

Meanwhile, AgForce cattle president Will Wilson has called for calm and unity.

“I don’t want to make any criticisms of what’s happened until we know what did happen,” Mr Wilson said.

“The biggest thing we can say to our cattle producers is it’s important to protect yourselves in times like this.

“We have to watch our own backs and watch each other’s backs. I want to bring the industry together over this not divide them.”

Mr Wilson said there was concern this was a longer-term issue, and happened prior to the last two transfers from the infect properties.

“These poor people that have been affected, they have family and people around them. And we need to stick up for them and help them get clean and not criticism them for being dirty,” he said.

“My main concern is people saying we don’t have a tick problem, we have a people problem, but we just need education.

“After the change to legislation in 2016 we have new obligations.

“We have to do everything in our power that if we’re moving cattle, buying cattle, selling cattle, we have to make sure they’re clean. That goes for people on the infested side as well.”

Biosecurity Queensland encourages producers to contact them if they want more information on

13 25 23.