Avoid chemical contamination with good biosecurity

By Dr Jess Coad, Livestock Biosecurity Network’s regional officer for Tasmania

It’s often after natural events such as prolonged dry conditions, floods or bushfires that livestock seek feed in areas they wouldn’t normally have access to.

Farm dumps, vehicle sheds and storage sheds, for example, can potentially expose livestock to toxic chemicals and contaminants and may even lead to carcasses being condemned by processors.

This might occur when fences are destroyed during flood or fire, but may also occur when hungry livestock search for feed in places they normally wouldn’t, putting pressure on fences that may be weakened by environmental conditions.

Over the last couple of months, three Tasmanian properties have reported lead contamination in livestock through access to farm dumps that were not properly fenced.

Livestock are naturally inquisitive, and this type of poisoning can happen when they lick or ingest items that contain lead salts such as old baths, batteries or lead paint remnants.

Other sources of chemical contamination include old dips or yards where environmentally persistent chemicals may remain, and chemicals or chemical containers that are not stored or disposed of correctly.

Some chemicals can remain in the soil for decades (like organochlorine pesticides used in dips as late as the 1980s), and some, like arsenic, never degrade.

Other risks to livestock found in farm dumps are physical contaminants like wire, bailing twine and plastic that can lead to problems such as entanglement and gastro-intestinal obstructions.

Livestock products found to contain chemical residues will be condemned, and the producer will suffer the economic loss of the product, as well as the costs for any clean up that may be needed as a result.

And it’s not just the individual’s business at risk – domestic and global markets may be threatened by the presence of chemical residues, so this issue is a serious risk to the whole livestock industry.

There are a number of steps producers can take to minimise the risk, starting with maintaining effective fences so livestock don’t have access to farm dumps, and disposing of old batteries and chemical drums at an authorised depot.

The Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program is the Australian livestock industry’s on-farm food safety assurance program and offers resources and tools for on-farm risk assessment relating to persistent chemicals and other contaminants.

LBN offers on-farm biosecurity planning workshops to producers, with an entire section addressing farm waste management. Contact your local LBN officer to find out when there will be a workshop near you.

• Dr Jess Coad is the Livestock Biosecurity Network’s regional officer for Tasmania. She can be contacted or 0488 400 209 or email jcoad@lbn.org.au.

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