Around the Camp: Pest animal activity, Water quality monitoring, Displaced stock, Water in your office, Exclusion fencing funding, 25 year blueprint

  1. Quick picks: Increase in pest animal activity, Water quality monitoring, Displaced stock, Water in your office, Exclusion fencing funding, 25 year blueprint – your views are valued
  2. Deep dive: Sheep body louse and shedding breeds
  3. Upcoming events
  4. Podcasts, eBulletins and surveys

Quick picks:

Have you seen an increase in feral pig or wild dog activity in your area? May is a busy time for many producers as they invest time managing the pest animal population on their property and in their region. Baiting in May is a common practice as this is the time of year when wild dogs and feral pigs are more active in the cooler weather and their breeding season. For more information on pest animal control and the use of 1080 click here. 

 

Water quality monitoring: When making management decisions water availability is critical but water quality and change in water quality is often overlooked or underestimated. A project run through the University of Adelaide is looking for producers who are interested in participating in a study investigating changes in water quality over time and the impact that this has on animal production. For more information, click here.

 

Displaced stock:  When you muster and draft there is nearly always ‘others’ or ‘strangers’. After the impact of recent weather events there could be a few more than usual that get drafted off this way. We usually know our neighbour’s brands and emblems, if you don’t recognise it, information in this fact sheet may help you. This practical fact sheet may help you, Identifying stray livestock during and after a natural disaster.

 

Water in your office…: Was your business and office impacted by floodwater? Your digital and hardcopy tax records destroyed by water? As much as we put it off, and regardless of whether you were affected or not, please reach out to your Tax Agent. The sooner you talk to them, the better, more options may be available to manage your business and tax. Phone (insert your tax agent’s number) to discuss your 2024/25 tax return. You can also contact the ATO Emergency support on 1800 806 218 or click here. 

 

Exclusion fencing funding: The State and Federal Governments recently announced a $105 million Exclusion Fence Restitution Program for primary producers to rebuild critical exclusion fencing damaged by floods to help contain and protect remaining livestock. If you are eligible and your application is approved, fencing materials (purchased from 7 April 2025 onwards) being used to repair damaged boundary exclusion fencing will be eligible. Graziers are encouraged to keep all tax invoices and take photos of any damage to the fences to support their application when the program opens. Leading Sheep will publish more information when it becomes available.

Through QRIDA, primary producers can now apply for Extraordinary Disaster Recovery Assistance Grants up to $75,000 for on-property recovery costs. For more information or to check your eligibility for current Primary Producer Grants and Loans, please visit click here or call 1800 623 946.

 

25 year blueprint – your views are valued!: The Queensland Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is embarking on a transformative journey with industry and stakeholders to co-design a 25-year blueprint to build a better future for primary industries and deliver greater benefits for our state more broadly. Queensland’s primary producers and supply chain stakeholders will have the opportunity to drive holistic collaborative change across the entire sector. Visit Primary Industries 25-year Blueprint Engagement Hub to view the draft blueprint and schedule of activities, submit feedback via the online survey, and subscribe to updates on consultation outcomes.

 

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Deep dive: Sheep body louse and shedding breeds   

Shedding breeds of sheep can be infested with the sheep body louse and can pose an infestation risk for Merinos. A field survey, in South Australia in 2018, authored by Dr Colin Trengrove from the University of Adelaide, found that 4 of 20 Dorper flocks surveyed in South Australia were lice infested.

Goats can also carry the sheep body louse, but the lice do not breed on the goat. Many people wrongly believe that like goats the lice will not reproduce on the shedding breeds. Why ‘wrongly’?

As part of the survey, 72 Dorper lambs were purchased lice-infested from sale yards for a treatment trial, 2 months prior to the application of 3 lousicides being tested for their efficacy. During these 2 months the lambs were held in isolation and the lice infestation progressed from light to medium, assessed using 20 fleece partings per sheep (from light at less than one lice per fleece parting, to medium at 1 to 5 lice per parting).  This showed that the sheep body louse can reproduce on Dorper sheep. The lice count in the untreated control group remained medium over the 6 weeks of the study. All the lousicide treatments (Avenge, Extinosad and Coopers Fly and Lice) worked well in these lambs with the lice count on all animals falling to zero within 3 weeks of treatment.

    Lice – knowing the enemy

    The lifecycle of a sheep body louse is completed in 34 days and an adult female will lay 1 to 2 eggs every 2 to 3 days during a 30-day lifespan. The eggs attach close to the skin and hatch approximately 10 days later. After the egg hatches the immature louse moults 3 times at days 5, 12 and 21 and then matures within 4 more days. The louse feeds on skin scurf, bacteria and keratinocytes from the sheep’s skin layer.

    Lice detection is best done in the sun, as light encourages the lice to move. If you wear glasses to read, you will need them to look for lice. Pick sheep showing the most fleece damage to examine and part the fleece at least 20 times. The number of sheep you must examine to be sure the mob is not infested depends on the severity of the infestation. If one louse is seen the mob is infested. There is a great tool available in LiceBoss to determine the economics of treatment to get the sheep through to shearing.

    Are goats the cause of your lice problem?

    If your Merinos are each year having lice control breakdowns there is little point looking at goats as the culprit. Why? Goats and sheep do not normally run together, the dynamics of lice spread from animal to animal and goats can carry lice, but they do not reproduce. Off- shears lice treatment failure and stragglers are much more likely to be the cause of your problem. How many times have you seen the most inexperienced worker applying the backliner or whatever with minimal supervision?

     Sheep Body Lice are not marathon runners

    Some people still believe that backliners work when the lice contact the chemical as they circle the body each day. However, the sheep body louse is not a marathon runner (think about how short their legs are and the distance they would have to travel to go around the sheep). Lice live close to the skin in a confined area, moving up and down the wool fibres in response to temperature changes.

    Written by South Region Coordinator and Veterinarian Dr Noel O’ Dempsey

     

    Upcoming Leading Sheep events

    • POSTPONED. Leading Sheep Forum, Longreach. Delivered by DPI. New date to be confirmed, find out more here.

    Upcoming events

    • 2-6 June. International Rangeland Congress, Adelaide. Register here.
    • 3 June. AgCarE Natural Capital, Toowoomba. Delivered by AgForce at FarmFest. Register here.
    • 4 June. Carbon and your ag business – realities, opportunities, risks and guidance, Toowoomba. Delivered by AgForce. Register here.
    • 5-6 June. Queensland Rural, Regional and Remote Women’s Network Conference, Rockhampton. Register here.
    • 13-14 June. Shearers Shindig, Thargomindah. For more information click here.
    • 17-19 June. Grazing Land Management EDGE, Charleville. Delivered by DPI. Register here.
    • 17-18 June. Nutrition EDGE, Surat. Delivered by Desiree Jackson Livestock Management. Register here.
    • 17 June. Success with grazing winter crops. Delivered by AWI Extension NSW. Register here.
    • 21-22 July Business EDGE, Longreach. Delivered by Bush Agribusiness. Register here.

    Save the dates

    • 12 June. Making Maidens Weight Producer Demonstration Site field day, central west. Delivered by DPI. Information to come.
    • 30-31 July. GroWQ Ag Innovation Expo: Talks, Tech, Trade Displays, Longreach. Delivered by GroWQ. Information to come.
    • 3 October. GroWQ Next Gen Event: Grassroots Growth in the Grazing Industry, Longreach. Delivered by GroWQ. Information to come.

    Podcasts, eBulletins and surveys

    Don’t forget to complete the Disaster Impact Survey for the Western Queensland floods. Even if you don’t know the full extent, you can complete what you know and complete it again when you have more information.

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