Six ways to improve your parasite management

Parasites such as lice, flies and worms are the cause of five of the eight highest cost endemic diseases affecting cattle and sheep.  

As well as reducing profitability on-farm, parasites also have a negative impact on animal health and welfare.  

Managing parasite infestations is one of the key responsibilities of producers to ensure that Australian red meat is safe to eat, ethically produced and of the highest quality. This responsibility is also a key requirement for accreditation with the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program.  

Six ways that producers can prevent the incidence of parasites in livestock while meeting their integrity requirements include:  

• have a formal, documented farm biosecurity plan for each property identification code (PIC) 
• ensure all livestock movements onto the PIC have a known health status (e.g. Livestock Health Statement/Declaration or equivalent) 
• inspect all introduced livestock for signs of ill health or disease on arrival and keep in isolation for a minimum period of time 
• regularly inspect livestock for ill health and disease and undertake appropriate action where necessary 
• minimise the risk of livestock straying onto or from the property 
• keep records of livestock movements, as well as vehicle and visitor movements where reasonable and practical. 

A farm biosecurity plan is the foundation for managing animal health, including effective parasite management. This document demonstrates the biosecurity systems implemented on-farm to minimise the risk of infectious diseases such as parasites being introduced and spread amongst livestock.  

All producers accredited by the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program must have a documented farm biosecurity plan for each property identification code (PIC). Farm biosecurity plans can now be completed entirely online on your LPA account, rather than on a printed template.  

Access ISC’s step-by-step guide to creating and uploading documents to your LPA account to learn how to complete your digital farm biosecurity plan.  

Chemical treatments administered to livestock to prevent or treat parasites must be recorded.  

Livestock treatment records provide the information needed to correctly complete LPA National Vendor Declarations (NVDs) and identify animals that may be within a withholding period. 

Animal treatment records must be kept to maintain LPA accreditation which gives access to LPA NVDs. If LPA accreditation is lost, NVDs cannot be used for that PIC until accreditation is reinstated, limiting options for marketing livestock.  

A template for producers to record livestock treatments can be downloaded from the ISC website.