Livestock & animals

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development supply chain support, research and development and rigorous biosecurity systems underpin the economic success of Western Australia’s livestock industries. In 2011/12, the WA livestock industries contributed 26% of the state’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry production, worth approximately $2 billion at the farm gate.

WA is a world leader in live exports, super fine wool production and dryland sheep and grain systems. Both cattle and sheep systems are focused on export markets to Asia and the Middle East. WA also has innovative, world-class integrated dairy and pork industries meeting local and South East Asian demand for safe, fresh milk and pork. The WA poultry industry is growing strongly as a result of increasing domestic consumption.

Global demand for high-quality, safe animal protein and products produced according to high animal welfare standards will continue to rise in coming years. Increasingly DAFWA will partner with industry -- locally, nationally and internationally -- in transformational business projects to capitalise on this demand.

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Articles

Pregnancy toxaemia and hypocalcaemia of ewes

12 December 2013

Pregnancy toxaemia and hypocalcaemia affect lambing ewe flocks and have similar signs but different causes.
Slender iceplant poisoning in sheep

4 December 2014

Slender iceplant, Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum, is a small, succulent, winter-growing annual weed, most common in the eastern Wheatbelt.
Eperythrozoonosis (E. ovis) in sheep

20 October 2014

Eperythrozoonosis is a disease in sheep and goats caused by the bacterium mycoplasma ovis (formerly known as eperythrozoon ovis).
Mastitis in sheep

3 December 2013

Mastitis is the term for a bacterial infection of the udder. It is most common in ewes raising multiple lambs or with high milk production.
Cobalt deficiency in sheep and cattle

22 July 2014

All ruminants (including sheep, cattle and goats) require cobalt in their diet for the synthesis of vitamin B12.
Infertility and abortion in ewes

16 June 2015

There are multiple possible causes of both infertility and abortion in ewes, but making a definitive diagnosis is often difficult. Some diseases which are exotic to Australia can cause abortions.
Who records sheep movements on the NLIS database?

26 February 2015

The flowchart and table below outline who is responsible for recording sheep movements on the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database.
Farm biosecurity checklist for sheep producers

4 December 2013

Western Australia has a relatively disease-free status compared with the rest of the world.
National Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Surveillance Program (NTSESP)

28 November 2013

The National TSE Surveillance Program (NTSESP) conducts surveillance for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease) in cattle and scrapie in sheep.
The National Arbovirus Monitoring Program (NAMP)

4 December 2013

The National Arbovirus Monitoring Program (NAMP) monitors the distribution of economically important insect-borne viruses of livestock and their vectors.