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Australia’s response to biosecurity risks is lacking
Vivien Lin
Peak body NSW Farmers has expressed concern at the findings of two recent reports on the state of Australia’s biosecurity operations, both of which identified serious gaps in current biosecurity systems.
The federal Inspector-General of Biosecurity conducted a review of pest and disease interceptions and incursions , concluding that the Department of Agriculture must invest in more effective detection systems and strengthen its arrangements for intercepting biosecurity risks.
Chair of the NSW Farmers Biosecurity Committee Ian McColl says the increase in movement of passengers and goods are progressively testing the biosecurity system.
“Our agricultural industries are facing serious biosecurity threats from incoming passengers and mail, including African swine fever and foot and mouth disease,” says Mr McColl. “The Department of Agriculture has so far worked effectively to keep these diseases out – but it needs to be adequately resourced to ensure this continues into the future.”
Mr McColl noted that the Inspector-General raised several resourcing issues, including the detector dog program which relies on adequately trained staff and animals. The number of detector dogs has almost halved between 2012 and 2017, highlighting the need to increase funding in this area.
“Any drive for staffing efficiencies by the Department shouldn’t compromise our biosecurity capabilities at the border,” Mr McColl says.
At the state level, the NSW Auditor-General has released a report focusing on the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) ’s biosecurity risk management. The report found that the DPI has not effectively built formal partnerships with other state agencies to share data and information on biosecurity and, as a result, does not have a comprehensive understanding of biosecurity compliance activities.
The Auditor-General provided some recommendations for the DPI to build on its current biosecurity programs, including establishing a data collection and reporting system to enable data sharing with Local Land Services and Local Control Authorities.
“Again, we see that better collection and use of data is critical to planning for and responding to biosecurity threats, and that activities need to be aligned to the areas of greatest risk,” Mr McColl says. “Continual planning for responses and testing of response options – which include effective liaison with industry – will ensure DPI and its partner agencies are well-prepared for future outbreaks.”
You can read more about Australia’s biosecurity risks here.
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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