SSF spotlight: Caring for our sheep

How producers care for the Australian flock is critical to the industry’s social licence to operate and is foundational to the Sheep Sustainability Framework. In the ‘Caring for our sheep’ pillar, success is measured across three areas – animal husbandry and handling, animal wellbeing and welfare, and biosecurity. The fourth Annual Report provides both a reflection on progress in some indicators and insights into areas needing improvement, which can help inform focus areas for the coming years.

Taking strides

The industry’s commitment to reducing, refining or replacing painful husbandry procedures, such as mulesing, tail docking and castration, remains high.

While mulesing is still common, the use of appropriate pain management remains high (Merino producers steady at 89.7%, non-Merino producers increased to 96.2%).

Pain management application during castration also increased (10% increase for Merinos, 3.7% for non-Merinos), as did the percentage of producers using rings when tail docking.

The rise in pain management use reflects the industry’s focus on educating stakeholders to share information and support best practice during lamb marking procedures. The national flock has also shown marked improvements in resistance to worm egg count (WEC) and early breech wrinkle (EBWE), with both Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBVs) showing a -27% change. These advances reduce the need for painful husbandry practices.

A growing number of producers are furthering their sheep care knowledge through the the Lifetime Ewe Management (LTEM) training program. By FY2023, 11.4% of producers had completed the six-day training, which enhances understanding of how ewe nutrition and management impact reproduction, and lamb and ewe survival.

Room to improve

While the report highlights positive trends, some areas still require improvement.

Compliance with Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) biosecurity requirements remains a challenge. The LPA system ensures food safety, animal welfare, traceability and biosecurity from on-farm practices. In 2023, the percentage of compliant producers – those with documented biosecurity plans – declined by 2% from 2022. To address this, resources and self-assessment tools have been introduced to help producers develop biosecurity plans.

A decrease in saleyards participating in the National Saleyard Quality Assurance (NSQA) accreditation scheme has led to fewer sheep being transacted through accredited facilities, with only 35.6% of sheep transacted through NSQA saleyards in FY2023. Rising costs have generally contributed to the decline in participation in third-party assurance and accreditation schemes across facilities.

While identifying these challenges sheds light on areas of improvement, the SSF also aims to address data gaps in alignment with key industry priorities and indicators.

In terms of sheep care, the SSF is working to measure the percentage of sheep transported in compliance with animal welfare standards. A Federal grant provided to MLA could enable tracking of livestock health and welfare before, during and after land transport, further expanding SFF’s reporting capabilities.