Victorian Petfood Processors announces dead livestock fee

Farmers used to be paid for the retrieval of dead livestock. Now the reverse is the case with a collection cash switch. Here’s why.

Government rebates are needed to cover a new dead livestock retrieval charge implemented by a key processor, the Victorian Farmers Federation says.

The owners of Victorian Petfood Processors have announced a $200 charge for the pick up of dead stock and $5 for deceased calves.

VFF livestock president Scott Young said the drought taskforce needed to consider the VPP move and its impact on the bottom line of already struggling landholders.

“The disposal of dead livestock is a key part of running a beef or dairy farm. If you’ve got a $200 charge per head of cattle in the middle of a drought, that’s a huge expense that wasn’t there before,” Mr Young said.

“Farmers need the knackery service and if we don’t have that service, it will have a massive impact on thousands of farmers across the state.

“The state government and the drought taskforce are examining ways to assist farmers through the drought — this is a live issue now and some sort of rebate would go a long way to resolving the issue.”

Following the third meeting of the drought taskforce last week, Premier Jacinta Allan said a range of new measures were being considered by the Victorian Government.

However, the government was yet to confirm the next drought support steps at the time of publication.

In a social media statement, management at Victorian Petfood Processors said they understood many farmers were facing trying economic conditions with drought and other factors.

“The average statewide cost of collecting a dead cow from farm, having to remove the skin, paunch grass and breaking down the cow down (rendering plant requirements) then transporting to the sole remaining rendering plant is around $200,” the VPP representative said.

“Even though VPP can no longer use dead stock for fresh pet meat, we will still provide a collection service (charge system) for anyone who would like to use it.

“VPP totally understands that farmers are doing it extremely tough at the moment, and probably no one will want to use this service, but it is there if anyone ever needs it.”

In March, Aulds Stock Removals at Stanhope confirmed it would no longer accept dead animals but was still attending farms to destroy cattle and take them away.

Aulds is part of Campaspe Meat Company, alongside VPP with director Loc Rivett confirming the decision to stop taking dead animals was due to improvement notices issued by the Environment Protection Authority.