Sheep and Goats Industry Funding Scheme: Annual Report 2013/14

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This page provides the 2013/14 annual report for the Sheep and Goats Industry Funding Scheme.

From the Chair

I am pleased to present the 2013/14 Annual Report to the participants of the Sheep and Goats Industry Funding Scheme, stakeholders involved in the Western Australian sheep and goat industries and to the Minister for Agriculture and Food.

Over the past 12 months, we have endeavoured to deliver a biosecurity scheme that meets the needs and addresses the priorities of the WA sheep and goat industries. With the Scheme now operating across the whole of the state, it is important that we are targeting industry-wide priorities. As such, we have been consulting with key organisations to gather views from industry on the biosecurity issues that may be addressed by the Scheme.

The Committee has also spent some time reviewing the activities currently undertaken via the industry-endorsed Footrot Control Program, to identify ways in which the program may be improved to better support the Committee’s position of on-farm eradication.

The implementation of the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Regulations 2013 in May last year saw changes to the way in which the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) issue quarantine notices. This, coupled with the seasonal conditions, saw a rise in the number of properties quarantined for virulent footrot. Despite this, the number of quarantined properties is still fewer than at the start of the control program in 2007.

We have been working closely with DAFWA to develop a research project that will test the effectiveness of a serogroup-specific footrot vaccine in Western Australian conditions. It is our hope to have a valuable tool that can help the industry tackle virulent footrot, and I see this as an important first step.

The Scheme continues to be well-supported by the WA sheep and goat industries. It is an industry-controlled scheme, and I encourage scheme contributors to have a say in how the Scheme is used to support a viable and sustainable industry into the future. 

I thank the Industry Management Committee for the work they have undertaken over the year and all participants in the Scheme for their contributions to the biosecurity of our industry.

On behalf of the Committee, I look forward to a continuing partnership with producers, industry and Government throughout 2014/15.

Yours sincerely

Jeff Murray
Chairman
Sheep and Goats IFS Management Committee

30 October 2014

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