Yesterday I attended a workshop run by MLA that covered the issue of grass seed contamination in lambs. Main area of concern for us is the preceived dumping of badly affected stock at saleyards.
Future actions are likely to include PIC based tracking of lamb producers and a flag warning system for PIC’s that have had grass seeed contamination. Processors will incorporate a national rating system for each carcass and this will be feed back to agents and producers.
Find attached a draft action plan. ON sure of LSAV involvement going forward but we will receive correspondence and PR materials at a later date.
National Grassseed Action Plan_Discussion Paper_Ver3_ 090413AC
Wether lambs are sold through saleyards or over the hooks, penalties are being incurred for seedy lambs.To obtain optimum prices for lamb, producers need to take ownership of the problem and engage in better farm management practices to minimise the risk of seed infestation and produce a product free of grass seeds.
Many saleyards have invested in flexible capacity to manage the large numbers of prime lambs requiring marketing before grass seed infestation becomes a problem on farm.
Saleyards may also hold extra markets prior to grass seeds running up to head in certain areas.