Livestock species

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development supports the economic success of several livestock industries, in particular the beef, sheep, dairy and pork industries. There are just under 15 million sheep located primarily in the agricultural region, producing high quality meat and wool for world markets. The sheep meat market is worth $500 million, of which about half is for live exports with the remainder slaughtered locally, and a further $500 million comes from wool exports.

Of the two million head of beef cattle, approximately half are located in the south west (mainly for local slaughter) and the remainder in the north (mainly for live export). Total value of the beef industry is $517 million per year. The dairy industry, worth $140 million per year, is located in the high rainfall south west region and has internationally competitive production costs.

The pork industry is primarily located in the northern and central agricultural regions, with a total value of $130 million per year of which approximately 20% comes from exports to Singapore. The poultry industry has 8.5 million birds and is mainly focused on the domestic market for both eggs ($60 million) and chicken meat ($130 million).

Other livestock species that are farmed but make a relatively small contribution to the total value of the livestock industry include goats and alpacas.

Articles

  • Avian influenza is a reportable disease. Some strains have the potential to cause significant losses in wildlife or if commercial poultry enterprises become infected.

  • The Lambing Planner is a simple tool that allows you to change a lambing date or a joining date to see the impacts of that on other key times in the reproductive year.

  • The adoption of mandatory electronic identification (eID) for sheep and goats is a way of improving traceability pra

  • Ovine brucellosis is a reproductive disease that can affect all breeds of sheep.

  • The WA Government is working with the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, as part of the Farm Business Resilience program to create opportunities for pastoralists and farmers across 6 agri

  • The Northern Beef Development program aims to support the Western Australian northern beef industry to become more profitable, resilient, and sustainable.

  • Identification of livestock in Western Australia is required under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (Identification and Movement of Stock and Apiaries) Regulations 2013 [BAM (IMSA) regula

  • Identification of livestock is required by law under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (Identification and Movement of Stock and Apiaries) Regulations 2013 [BAM (IMSA) Regulations].

  • Registration of owners and identification of livestock in Western Australia is required by law under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management (Identification and Movement of Stock and Apiaries) R

  • The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) fees and charges for biosecurity services comes into effect on 1 July each year* to enable DPIRD to continue to provide essenti

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