More than three months after the Queensland Government allocated $5 million to kick-start the Queensland Cattle Industry Biosecurity Fund, producers affected by the Bovine Johne’s Disease control program are still yet to learn how they will be compensated for the impact.

And cattle producers across the state are also waiting to find out how much they will be asked to contribute via a voluntary levy to support the biosecurity fund going forward, a topic that is becoming increasingly sensitive as falling cattle markets and drought place serious pressure on producer profitability.

Industry leaders have been working with the Government since January to determine how quarantined producers shouldering the burden of the State’s eradication and control program should be financially compensated.

They have also been working out details on how a voluntary producer levy to support the fund going forward will work.

The Government’s $5m funding package announced in January includes a $2 million grant and loan of up to $3 million. The $3m is to be repaid as the fund is built up through voluntary producer levy payments.

Under the constitution, a state-based levy cannot be compulsory and must have an “opt-out” component.

In other states where similar voluntary biosecurity levies are in place, producers can elect not to pay the levy. However, those that opt-out also surrender the right to assistance from the fund should they be affected by a biosecurity problem.

Levies in other states range from 20c/head to $1/head, with some states applying the levy to the purchase of NLIS tags, and other states applying the levy to the sale of each head of cattle as a transaction levy.

There is speculation that Queensland is considering a mid-point levy around the 60c/head range, but industry and Government discussions on the topic have been confidential and the final landing point will not be known until Queensland agriculture minister John McVeigh announces his final decision, expected at any time.

The $5m seed funding provided by the Queensland Government is designed to ensure funds can be made immediately available to producers affected by the current BJD control program as soon as the new levy and associated compensation structures are launched.

A Department of Agriculture spokesperson told Beef Central that compensation arrangements were close to being finalised and producers affected by BJD should be able to make applications for payments from this month.

The spokesperson said the priority will be helping producers whose businesses could be impacted by long-term movement restrictions and those who are having animals tested as part of the current BJD response.

Queensland BJD testing update

Biosecurity Queensland says BJD infections to date have been confirmed in three Queensland trace forward bulls.

The department has stated that one of those bulls is considered low-risk of having spread infection, and that “virtually all” faecal culture results from trace-forward properties have come back negative. 

“However some further testing will be required based on some of the PCR testing. PCR is regarded a screening test only and does not provide definitive results,” the department said.

Important testing is also yet to get underway to determine whether the strain of BJD found on the Rockley Stud near Rockhampton last year originated from southern Australia, or from the United States, through a bull imported to Rockley during the 1980s.

Should the strain at Rockley be proven to match the US strain, it would raise questions about the integrity of Australia’s quarantine systems, and whether the long-term presence of BJD in the northern herd means eradication is still an achievable policy.

Biosecurity Queensland told Beef Central it is still awaiting the arrival of comparative test samples from the USA, expected next month, and its Coopers Plains laboratory is currently preparing the various testing tools and protocols that will be used when the samples arrive.

Another recent development that again raises questions about how long BJD has existed in the northern beef herd has been the possible detection of BJD in an 11 year old Rockley bull on a New South Wales property.

The presence of BJD in an 11 year old Queensland bull would pre-date the seven year testing period that NLIS records have allowed to date, and again would suggest that the disease has been present in Queensland's beef herd for longer than previously thought.

Asked if confirmation of BJD in an 11 year old bull would alter the Queensland Government's view that eradication is still an achievable objective, Biosecurity Queensland said it could not draw conclusions untill all circumstances surrounding the bull were known and confirmed.

“Biosecurity Queensland has been in contact with New South Wales authorities who will advise of these results when testing is finalised and tracing confirms the bull's movements between Queensland and New South Wales.

“BJD is a complex disease and it is essential that all information for each case is critically assessed.

“In each case, infection must be confirmed and alternative sources of infection excluded before drawing any conclusions.

“The Queensland Government is currently undertaking the control of BJD to protect the industry from the impacts of the disease.

“Strategic decisions about whether disease control is cost-effective and productive for the industry will be made according to the overall understanding of the disease prevalence and distribution, which is under continuous review.”