LPA Learning
Consolidate your knowledge on Stock foods, fodder crops, grain and pasture treatments by completing this LPA Learning module.
What must producers do to ensure they feed animals safely?
Livestock producers must:
- Allow only people who are trained and/or competent use chemicals and when applying chemicals, they abide by the legal directions and only use approved agricultural chemicals.
- Ensure that any equipment used to apply or measure chemicals is working correctly before use and clean it before and after use
- Ensure agricultural chemicals are stored accordingly to instructions on the label and kept in a place safe from animals
- Ensure management systems are in place to identify livestock that may have accessed treated paddocks or contaminated feed
- Record agricultural treatments, including spray drift and introduced stock feed by completing an LPA NVD/Waybill, and passing this on when selling stock
- Guarantee any feed purchased is safe from chemical contamination by ensuring they are accompanied by a CVD to identify residues of chemicals applied before or during harvest or in storage.
- Meet the ruminant feed ban legislation of the state in which you raise stock
- Have a management system in place to map or list treated and contaminated areas and signpost them on-farm.
When do I need a Commodity Vendor Declaration (CVD)?
All introduced stock feeds should be accompanied by a Commodity Vendor Declaration (CVD) to guarantee that the feed purchased is safe from chemical contamination.
The CVD needs to provide details of:
- The chemical(s) used to treat the commodity
- The rate and date of chemical application
- The relevant WHP/ESI/Export Animal Feed Interval (EAFI) as shown on the chemical label.
CVD’s completed through the National Grower Register (NGR) system are accepted under LPA.
In the absence of a CVD you need to assess the risk (and keep a record of same). Alternatively, you can have a sample tested for residues.
More Information
Stock foods, fodder crops, grain and pasture treatments video
Watch this video to understand how to avoid exposure of livestock to foods containing unacceptable chemical contamination or animal products.
Alternative Feedstuff
Alternative Feedstuff (Cotton Trash)
Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) accredited livestock producers are now able to feed their livestock cotton trash or use cotton trash as mulch under a strict protocol developed industry.
Tools & Resources
Stock foods, fodder crops, grains and pasture treatments fact sheet and checklist
LPA - Crop, pasture and paddock treatment template.pdf
LPA - Grain and fodder (hay and silage) treatment template.pdf
LPA - Introduced stock feed template.pdf
LPA - Livestock feeding record template.pdf
LPA - Chemical inventory template.pdf
commodity vendor declaration cvd
FAQs
Restricted animal material (RAM) includes meat, meat and bone meal, blood meal, blood and bone meal, dog biscuits, poultry offal meal, feather meal, fishmeal or any other animal meals or manures to livestock.
The feeding of RAM to ruminant animals has been linked to the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). Livestock should not be fed such products.
To minimise the risk of contaminating our meat supply, it is important to keep and store products that may contain RAM separate from feed that will be fed to ruminant livestock.
LPA-accredited producers are now able to feed their livestock cotton trash or use cotton trash as mulch under a strict protocol developed by industry. The availability is dictated by the cotton gins and is only available from gins approved by the cotton industry.
Read the list of approved cotton gins here.
Read more about LPA alternative feedstuffs or download a cotton trash fact sheet for more information.
A declaration must be completed for every order of cotton trash. Download the declaration.
Feeding cotton trash does impact a PIC, even if only some of your livestock have had access, every animal registered to that PIC will be considered to have accessed cotton trash. As a result, all animals registered to that PIC are automatically allocated a cotton trash animal (CTA) status on the central NLIS database. All animals are required to complete a 60-day clean feed period before going to slaughter or export. This can occur in two ways, an approved auditor verifies the PIC is clear and no longer feeding cotton trash via an on-farm audit, or if livestock are moved to a clean PIC, and the 60 day clean feed period will automatically initiate once the movement is recorded on the central NLIS database.
If livestock that have been fed cotton trash are slaughtered prior to the completion of the clean feed period, there is a risk of chemical residue levels exceeding those stipulated by market access requirements. There are also commercial risks in feeding by-products, like cotton trash, to livestock in that some buyers may not want to purchase such livestock.
By adhering to the protocol, producers wishing to access cotton trash will be able to maintain their LPA accreditation and the red meat industry will continue to meet the expectations of global markets.
It is recommended that before feeding cotton trash to livestock, you contact your buyer or processor and receive confirmation that they are willing to accept livestock which have had access to cotton trash.
Sheep can be fed cotton trash under the same provisions as cattle.
Through the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) Public Chemical Registration Information System Search: https://portal.apvma.gov.au/pubcris