LARGE northern pastoral player the Australian Agricultural Co has confirmed stock losses due to perishing in two unrelated incidents on Queensland cattle properties during January.

The ABC reported the incidents this morning, covering about 230 head in total.

The larger of the two events happened on an AA Co-owned property in Queensland, losing around 100 cows and 40 calves. The second occurred on a Central Western Queensland property where AA Co was agisting cattle, outside of AA Co’s direct management control. About 90 head were involved.

At least one of the incidents happened during a heat stress period, ABC reported. Water system  management, failure or access, appears to be the root cause.

An AA Co statement issued earlier today said incidents like this were tragic and out of the ordinary, but they are unacceptable and highly distressing to everyone.

“Our teams know animal welfare is fundamental to our operations,” the company said.

Staff involved at both locations were deeply affected by the incidents, Beef Central understands.

“The two matters are unrelated and should not be compared,” AA Co said.

“However, any failures identified in either case will be thoroughly addressed to ensure no repeat of the loss of animals’ lives in this manner,” the statement said.

The company made the point that it manages about 10,000 watering points across 6.5 million hectares of land, servicing some 450,000 cattle.

Only biosecurity related incidents require formal notification to authorities, however AA Co voluntarily advised the Queensland Department of Primary Industries of the incidents. Shareholders were not informed, as the publicly-listed company’s reporting responsibility relates specifically to material matters (financially significant) to stockholders.

While AA Co has adopted remote water monitoring technology across its pastoral operations, not every watering point is equipped with sensors or monitors. Remoteness, distances involved and flat topography make water monitoring installations difficult in some locations.

Trough and tank sites are routinely visited as part of regular water runs on all properties.

AA Co last year completed major water infrastructure upgrades across its northern pastoral properties.