Production

Producers reminded to use CVDs as drought continues

Beef Central, 15/11/2019

With many regions across the country facing ongoing drought conditions, livestock producers purchasing fodder and grain are being urged to seek a Commodity Vendor Declaration (CVD).

A CVD is a key document within the red meat integrity system that guarantees introduced feed is safe from chemical contamination. It is a key component under the, ‘Fodder crop, grain and pasture treatments and stock foods’ element of the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program, managed by Integrity Systems Company (ISC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA).

ISC Chief Executive Officer Dr Jane Weatherley said the CVD is an important tool in safeguarding livestock feed supply and meeting requirements for product integrity, contributing to the overall quality assurance of Australia’s red meat industry.

“With producers increasingly buying in feed amid tough seasonal conditions, it’s important to maintain Australia’s commitment to producing safe and high quality red meat products that meet global market expectations,” Dr Weatherley said.

“Record keeping is critical to enable the traceability of stock feeds provided to animals, protecting the integrity of Australian red meat and ensuring market access.

“Any producer obtaining fodder or grain from a third party should ensure the supplier completes a CVD, so they know exactly what is being fed to their livestock and can guarantee their livestock are residue free.”

The single-page form contains accurate details of the commodity’s composition, identifying chemical treatments applied to the commodity before or during harvest or in storage.

Where livestock have been fed feedstuffs that have been treated with chemicals, additional records should be kept including details of relevant Withholding Periods and Export Slaughter Intervals.

The CVD provides information on the feedstuff’s origin, either from a single source or via multi-vendor storage, such as when it has passed through a grain depot, cotton gin or seed storage site. The declaration also ensures the feedstuff does not include restricted animal material (RAM) such as meat and bone meal, which is illegal to feed to ruminants.

Dr Weatherley said LPA accredited producers are being urged to source stockfeed only from suppliers who are willing to vouch for its content by providing an accompanying CVD. Furthermore, completed CVDs should be filed alongside other farm records.

The CVD can be downloaded as a single PDF from the MLA website here. To assist both feed suppliers and red meat producers, a page of explanatory notes is provided with the blank CVD.

A fact sheet and learning course around LPA element three, ‘Stock feed, fodder crops, grain and pasture treatments’ can be accessed here.

Source: Meat & Livestock Australia

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Comments

  1. Sue Grant, 15/11/2019

    We are in a desperate fight to keep what’s left of our cow herd alive.There is no pasture left,dam levels are collapsing and we are buying hay from three states and spending $14,000 a week.We have given up asking for CVDs because we never get them.No one even seems to know what the bloody things are!

  2. Paul Franks, 15/11/2019

    If I may also add to my previous comment, the CVD system is not an audited system requiring a paper record showing chemical usage, rates and batch numbers, so how can CVD’s be acceptable within LPA in the first place?

    Since they are said to be acceptable but there is no requirement for a paper based record to back up the CVD, why is a specific paper based record required for LPA?

    It makes no sense that CVD’s are allowed within LPA.

  3. Paul Franks, 15/11/2019

    It is a pity that we have a great resource in Australia called the National Residue Survey yet from appearances the people at ISC seem to not know it exists, because the National Residue Survey proves that producers are doing the right thing without the need for reams of paperwork. https://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/food/nrs/nrs-results-publications

    Furthermore in the middle of a drought as bad as it currently is, does Dr Weatherley expect with feed commodities so hard to come by, a producer is going to refuse to buy feed stock if a seller does not supply a CVD?

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