LPA program

On their property at Barooga, on the banks of the Murray River, Tom and Carly Marriott run breeding ewes, crossbred lambs and Merino wethers.

High on the couple’s priority list are the systems and practices that oversee the Australian red meat supply chain. After all, they help ensure the Marriotts’ meat is recognised as a premium product by domestic and international markets.

The recent threat to the local industry with outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and lumpy skin disease (LSD) in neighbouring Indonesia has meant our systems are more important than ever before.

“If there's an outbreak, it can be managed, controlled, narrowed down and dealt with very fast and efficiently,” Tom said.

“Our selling ability is second to none. We can market to anyone in the world knowing that our integrity system is sound, is accurate, and that we can push a clean green, magnificent product.”

A priority for consumers 

Integrity Systems Company (ISC) manages and implements the primary on-farm assurance and traceability systems for the Australian red meat sector:

• The National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) captures lifetime movements by linking accredited tags or devices to a Property Identification Code (PIC) to track livestock through the supply chain.   
• Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) and National Vendor Declarations (NVDs) work hand-in-hand. The LPA program provides on-farm assurance to prove to consumers that livestock have been raised safely and ethically. NVDs record the treatment and food safety of every animal as it makes its way through the red meat value chain. All producers accessing NVDs or eNVDs must be LPA accredited. 

The LPA standards cover on-farm risk assessment, treating animals safely and responsibly, managing pasture treatments, preparing animals for dispatch, documenting livestock transactions, biosecurity practices and animal welfare practices as listed by the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines.  

In recent years, it’s become increasingly clear to Tom Marriott how important the integrity of food systems is to customers.    

“They really want to know where their food comes from, how it's produced, that it's produced in a safe socio-economic, environmentally conscientious way. To ensure all these things are happening, producers need an integrity system to demonstrate this process,” Tom said.   

“These systems help us as producers meet consumer expectations. It gives us real power as a seller to be able to market our product saying, here's our reputation, this is how good we are.” 

Importance of checking compliance   

Tom thought he was doing everything right to comply with red meat integrity systems – but a recent LPA audit of his systems delivered a surprise.    

“In our audit, they found two corrective action responses. Firstly, I didn’t have any non-vendor bred pink ear tags, which I was required to have. Secondly, I was not completing my NLIS transfers correctly.”     

However, Tom maintains that the audit process has been positive, and is not something for producers to fear.    

“The LPA audit staff were extremely helpful. All I wanted to do was to make sure we were doing our job right.  

“There were those two little things that just needed to be corrected. I wasn't doing it wrong as such. I just needed to do it better. I'm now doing it better, and it was no problem.”  

Improve your records by moving online 

This audit prompted Tom to ditch his paper-based system and move his records online through myMLA. He says being able to access all his data through his mobile phone has been a game changer.   

“Good records just make management so easy. They make the decision black and white. When did I drench those animals? There's an accurate record. It says they're not available for sale yet and that I need to wait another four days or another week.” 

“I’m not tech-savvy, but now all I do is sign into myMLA. If I'm buying livestock, I'll click my NLIS. I go straight into that, transfer the PIC and the number of animals from that PIC to my PIC. Very straightforward. Then if I'm selling lambs, I go to my LPA dashboard which can be found on the myMLA website – same page, same link, same sign in, fill out the NVD. Then hit print and off I go.”

Helping producers  

Tom firmly believes this framework prevents disastrous consequences for the Australian red meat industry. Over the past decade, he’s noticed a shift in the mindset of many producers – from viewing them as hampering their day-to-day operations, to highly valuing the systems and the economic benefits they bring.   

“More people are really seeing the benefits of LPA and realising they are there to help, to make sure we're doing it right so that if something were to happen, it can be traced, locked down, dealt with, and everyone can continue farming,”