Testing continues as Indonesia continues part suspension

Australia’s cattle industry is no closer to knowing when the live export trade will fully reopen to Indonesia as it fights claims of lumpy skin disease.

Australia’s cattle industry is no closer to knowing when the live export trade will fully reopen to Indonesia as it fights claims of lumpy skin disease.

While some live export facilities have been able to continue to send cattle to Indonesia, four were suspended when Indonesian authorities found LSD in 13 Australian cattle.

Australian authorities maintain the country remains LSD free and has suggested the cattle may have caught the condition en route to Indonesia or when they arrived.

Cattle with lumpy skin disease show lesions on their skin.

Testing of 65 cattle in each of the four suspended facilities is now underway with samples going to CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) facility in Geelong, but there has been no indication when these results might be available.

Those results will then need to be presented in a report to Indonesian authorities to try to overturn their decision to stop exports from the four feed yards.

The Weekly Times approached major industry players including the Australian Livestock Exporters Council and the National Farmers Federation for an update, but all deferred questions to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

DAFF would not answer specific questions about testing time frames or any expectations on a resolution to the issue.

“While this investigation is underway, it is not appropriate to comment further,” a DAFF spokeswoman said.

“Australia is working closely with Indonesia to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

Australia has exported more than 700,000 cattle to Indonesia in its peak but this has dropped away in recent years.

In the past financial year, 337,102 cattle were send to Indonesia through live export and in the calendar year to date, that figure is 163,007.