A $5 million spending commitment will target livestock effluent issues on New South Wales roadways.
The joint commitment by the Federal Government and NSW Government will be spent building and upgrading truck wash out facilities around the State.
NSW Farmers said the “Fixing Country Truck Washes” program lighten the load on existing infrastructure, freeing up livestock transporters to focus on the welfare of animals, the safety of others on the road, and biosecurity.
“Over a number of years, both the trucking and farming sectors have worked together to develop sensible outcomes to manage the effluent problem, NSW Farmers Business, Economics and Trade Chairman Peter Wilson said.
“Providing more wash out bays across the State has been identified by our members as a key solution to the effluent problem.
“The transport and agriculture industries have spent a great deal of investment in managing effluent, with the fitting and retrofitting of containment tanks in livestock crates.”
“The investment will partner with the NSW Government’s investments in the road network to build greater productivity for livestock farmers in NSW.
“We encourage the Government to partner this program with a renewed commitment to developing pragmatic approach to the regulation and enforcement of effluent.
“Such an approach should focus on major breaches, where the opportunity to use a wash down facility has been ignored – not minor infringements that pose no risk.”
Effluent falls under the issue of load restraint in the Heavy Vehicle (Mass Dimension and Loading) National Regulation (NSW). The National Transport Commission expects Ministers to consider amendments to the current Load Restraint Guide late in 2016 before release of the next amendment package to the Load Restraint Guide in 2017.
Source: NSW Farmers
The major problem lies with the law “a load must be restrained including effluent” it is impossible to comply with this law with the trucks we use in Australia.You can follow every law and guideline and drive through rain on the way to the destination and you no longer comply. It is up to the discretion of the RMS officer who are not the most reasonable people as to what is an acceptable level of effluent. Shit will come out of trucks it is a fact. The extent can be managed I agree. $5 million upgrading wash out facilities won’t help change the problem of poorly prepared stock by lazy owners or dirty trucks by lazy truckies or unforeseen circumstances. It would be very simple for the RMS and LBCA and transporters to co operate and develop a register of producers who don’t prepare their livestock correctly and that would allow action to be taken against those producers on a 1, 2, 3 strike basis.
This problem starts at the farm gate by farmers not curfewing livestock maybe some education in this area would go a long way to fix this problem. You only have to be at Dubbo and Forbes saleyards on Monday and Tuesday’s mornings it’s a total disgrace. But nothing is done because agents and saleyards opperators are only interested in throu put and dollars .