Each year, the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program audits 3,500 accredited producers around Australia to provide assurance that industry is conforming with the LPA standards and delivering safe and traceable red meat.
AUS-MEAT Livestock Program Manager Trish Ryder oversees a team of 40 auditors who perform LPA audits on behalf of Integrity Systems Company (ISC).
Trish acknowledges that when people hear the word ‘audit’ they automatically think there's something wrong and they can be quite worried about the process.
“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” she said. “We always try to ensure that our first contact with a producer is over the phone. That way we can talk them through the process and help them understand that we’re coming to help them – not to trip them up or wield a big stick if they’ve made the odd mistake.”
The audit process helps strengthen the LPA program by demonstrating our accredited producers have the records to back up their vendor declarations and provide the livestock traceability and customer assurance that’s vital to our global market access.
“As auditors we don’t want them to feel threatened by us being there,” she said. “I love going out and sitting down with a producer at their kitchen table, helping them see where they might have gone wrong in some places and showing them an alternative way of doing things.”
A common slip up a
One of the nonconformities Trish comes across most often is producers not ensuring their livestock transfers are recorded on the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database within 48 hours of arriving on their property, as required by standard 5.4 of the LPA Standards.
“Producers are responsible for making sure that NLIS transfers happen in a timely manner, whether they’ve bought the livestock from a saleyard or another producer or even using an online auction site,” Trish said.
“Unfortunately, we find producers often think this is something their agent or the online auction house will take care of, but then discover during the audit that it hasn’t actually happened.”
Trish warns that if transfers don’t happen and the livestock are then sold or moved again then those animals will trigger a system transfer. That means the livestock will have lost their lifetime traceability.
“That can really hurt the producer if they're supplying into a branded product or any other program that requires lifetime traceability of the animal,” she said. “It’s going to affect the animal’s value because it's no longer a premium product.”
“So even if a third party is doing that transfer on the producer’s behalf, it’s vital the producer goes onto the NLIS to confirm that it has happened.”
Learn how to create a livestock transfer or check that one’s been done by reading this month’s NLIS Tips & Tricks article.
Records are critical to an enterprise’s success and just as important as any on farm activity.
“I can understand that record keeping is probably the last thing producers want to do when they are back in the office after a hard day in the yards,” Trish said. “But if they want their livestock to be part of the food chain, they need records to back up their traceability claims and protect their market access."
For many producers, updating their records is a rainy-day job according to Trish and, unfortunately, in Australia we don't see enough of those.
“Many producers can rely on the notebooks they carry around in their top pockets,” she said. “Producers all seem to have them, and they provide an excellent record.”
“That’s a good start, but sometimes we’ll need a bit of extra information – things like batch numbers, the expiry dates and dosage rates,” she said. “We’ve got to have those detailed records to provide the assurance our international markets demand.”
A positive experience a
Trish hopes that producers will continue to embrace the LPA program – and the audit process, if they get that call.
“There’s something in the audit process for everyone,” she said. “It doesn't matter where we go, we are always learning something, and the producers are learning something – it’s just a really valuable experience on both sides.”
“We want to be able to sit down at the kitchen table with a producer and we want them to want to invite us back,” Trish said. “When they tell you to call in for a cuppa next time you’re passing, then you know you've done a good job.”
In fact, many producers are often pleasantly surprised by just how easy and positive an experience an audit can be.
“When I'm leaving the farm, they’ll often tell me they’d been a bit nervous about being audited, but that the experience had been really good,” she said.
That’s a message Trish hopes they'll share with their neighbours.
“At the end of the day, if we can get everybody to understand the importance of our LPA program and the benefits it has brought to livestock producers through that expanded market access, then everyone benefits.”