How can you manage the risk of cattle developing C. bovis?

If you are being supplied with recycled water from a wastewater treatment plant, you need to: Include recycled water use in your property risk assessment. Indicate on your farm map...

Property Risk Assessment | Integrity Systems

Property Risk Assessment

You must identify any possible risk on your property where livestock could be exposed to sites or sources of unacceptable contamination from persistent chemicals, pathogens from recycled water or physical contaminants and develop strategies for how this risk will be controlled.

How can producers meet this LPA requirement?

To ensure you are controlling the risk of contaminated product entering the food chain, livestock owners must:

Regularly review and complete the on-farm property risk assessment using this Property Risk Assessment factsheet.
Complete a property risk assessment map and management table and update it when any changes to the enterprise's activities occur.
Document and file your risk assessment/s - risk assessment documentation must be retained indefinitely.
Updates to the LPA website now allow property risk assessments to be completed entirely digitally rather than on a printed template.

Access ISC’s detailed step-by-step guide to creating and uploading documents to your LPA account to learn how to complete your digital property risk assessments.

Guide to creating or uploading documents to your LPA account

Why do a property risk assessment?

Property risk assessments ensure the integrity of the meat we produce, guaranteeing it's safe and of high quality.

If livestock encounter persistent chemicals, the meat produced may contain unacceptably high chemical residues, impacting on food safety and market access. Similarly, physical contaminants such as wire could cause harm to animals and people if they become lodged in meat tissue.

There is also a risk of cattle developing a disease called beef measles (Cysticercus bovis or C. bovis) if they are exposed to inadequately treated recycled water. C. bovis is a food safety risk to humans and infected carcases can be partly or fully condemned at processing if infected.

Repercussions of selling livestock that are chemically, physically or biologically contaminated, may not being paid for the livestock, and possible legal liability for the resulting costs faced by processors and the rest of the supply chain.

More Information

LPA Learning

Consolidate your knowledge on ‘Property Risk Assessment’ by completing this LPA Learning module.

LPA Learning

LPA property risk assessment video

Watch this video to understand how to minimise risk on-farm from persistent chemicals and physical contaminants.

watch video

Tools & Resources

Renewable Energy Infrastructure on Livestock Properties

Property risk assessment fact sheet and checklist

Property risk assessment and example map (PDF)

Property risk assessment and example map (Excel)

Property risk assessment and example map (Word)

FAQs

No. LPA does not prohibit or restrict the installation of equipment including solar panels, electrical transformers, capacitors, hydraulic equipment, coal seam gas structures or wind turbines on land which is also used for livestock production and grazing.

For more information please read this guide: Renewable Energy Infrastructure on Livestock Properties

A map of the property identifying any contamination risks. It can also be used to for biosecurity risk management.

The location of old batteries, old dip sites, farm rubbish tips, old painted timbers, commercial painted surfaces, machinery, chemical storage or disposal areas, land treated with recycled water and land which shares a boundary with public land (e.g., roadways. railways. state forest. national park) should be highlighted on the map.

This will ensure a livestock producer is doing all they can to prevent livestock becoming contaminated and ensure the resulting meat they produce is safe to eat.

Animals that may have been exposed to physical contaminants such as broken needles, buckshot or wire need to be identified and this information must be shared with the buyer. You will need to keep records of animals that may have been exposed to these contaminants.

Persistent chemicals break down very slowly. Areas contaminated with persistent chemicals may have to be managed for decades, depending on the chemical involved, climate and soil type. Lead, arsenic and cadmium do not breakdown, although their levels may reduce over time as a result of dilution or leaching.

Recycled water refers to water recycled from sewage or other water sources containing human faecal material and supplied from a wastewater treatment plant under an agreement. This excludes on-farm household greywater and septic systems or stormwater. The use or accidental exposure of cattle to inadequately treated recycled water needs to be managed to minimise the risk of beef measles (C. bovis) infection in cattle. C. bovis poses a food safety risk to humans and infected carcases can be partly or fully condemned at processing if infected.

If you are being supplied with recycled water from a wastewater treatment plant, you need to:

Include recycled water use in your property risk assessment.
Indicate on your farm map where recycled water has been applied.
Obtain in writing from the wastewater treatment plant the treatment level of the recycled water (agreement or contract)
Demonstrate through the agreement that the recycled water is low risk and has been treated to achieve a:
Log Reduction Value (LRV) of 4.0 in Taenia saginata (T. egg saginata) concentration or equivalent; or
LRV of 3.0, supplying other fresh drinking water to cattle, and the recycled water supplier confirms that the sewage quality ≤ 1 T. saginata egg/L, as part of the supply agreement.

If cattle are exposed to inadequately treated recycled water, they need to be identified, traceable and declared as exposed to C. bovis on outgoing NVDs.

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