Australia's live sheep trade continues to reach fresh highs across animal welfare metrics, including mortality rates on ships now being the lowest on record, the latest voyage data shows.
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Not a single voyage in the past five years has lost more than 1pc of the sheep on board, which is the threshold for an investigation by the regulator.
Mortality rates for 2022 averaged 0.14 per cent.
The average daily mortality rate on ships is now comparable to that of sheep on farms in Australia.
There has been an 81pc reduction in mortality since 2014, a just-released update of the live sheep trade information brochure published by the industry's research and development body LiveCorp said.
Industry leaders acknowledge mortality is not a perfect measure but say there is a correlation between the number of mortalities and overall welfare during a voyage. It's also an objective measure, collected by federal government regulators.
Veterinarian Holly Ludeman said the drivers of welfare improvements in the trade were multifactorial.
"From a vet's perspective, increased space on board has had a massive impact," she said.
LiveCorp says sheep now have up to 38pc more space on live export ships than in 2017.
It also said management practices had been changed, with exporters selecting sheep more suited to the journey overseas, conducting more checks for pregnancy and general health, and providing on-the-job training for staff in Australia, on ships and in market.
Technology has also improved, with automated loggers on many ships and new systems installed to allow the automatic transfer of data to a central point, making it easier to monitor and analyse conditions.
The industry-funded research program spends 50 to 70pc of its budget on animal welfare related projects.
Dr Ludeman said animal welfare had improved throughout the entire supply chain, with the knowledge and skills of everyone involved, from shearers to truck drivers to stockmen and women on board ships now exceptional.
She is also the manager of The Livestock Collective, a whole-of-supply-chain not for profit organisation designed to help grow public understanding of agriculture.
Community sentiment surveys are showing Australians understand that animal welfare is a complex issue and there is growing confidence in the live export industry, something Dr Ludeman said was evident in the face-to-face work The Livestock Collective carries out with the public.
Almost three-quarters of respondents in 2023 surveys agreed the benefits and costs of the trade are either about equal or that the benefits of the trade outweigh the costs.
The LiveCorp brochure also references an economic study conducted this year to provide key facts regarding the economic contribution of the live sheep trade nationally, and to Western Australia.
It showed the trade is worth $143 million a year and accounts for 17pc of Western Australia's sheep turn-off.
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
