Cumberland piggery inspections focus on biosecurity
The Cumberland Livestock Health and Pest Authority has been undertaking inspections of piggeries across the northern part of the authority district to help producers improve piggery biosecurity.
The inspections form a key part of Cumberland’s animal health plan and allow the exchange of information on biosecurity, pig health, livestock traceability and animal welfare.
Keith Hart, Cumberland LHPA senior district vet, says the main reason for conducting the inspections was to ensure that appropriate biosecurity messages were being delivered to piggeries in Division A.
"There are approximately 28 piggeries located within Division A of the Cumberland LHPA district, which includes the Maitland area.
"After the formation of the Cumberland LHPA, we suspected there was a gap in the knowledge of Division A piggeries which represented a significant risk in terms of biosecurity and disease management," he said.
Rangers Andrew Glover and Ben Serafin conducted the inspections, visiting piggeries located at Mangrove Mountain, Cessnock and Pokolbin.
An important component of the inspections involved collecting information on pig numbers, feeding regimes, checking for compliance with statutory requirements, such as the prohibition of swill feeding due to exotic disease risks, and providing advice on requirements for sale.
During September 16 piggeries in Division A were inspected, which included commercial operations as well as teaching facilities.
"The rangers discovered that some of the piggeries are directly supplying the local market, or selling to a pig abattoir near Kempsey rather than selling at the local Camden pig saleyard.
"This information is particularly useful, as we would normally rely on weekly monitoring of the Camden saleyards for detecting new piggeries," Mr Hart said.
For more information on pig traceability, health and piggery biosecurity please contact your local office of the Cumberland LHPA. General information about the pig industry can be found on the Department of Industry and Investment’s website at http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/.
Media contact: Kylie Dunn 6391 3720 / 0428 465 378