Tips for buying and selling livestock and meat

The transport and processing of livestock is regulated throughout Australia, as is the transport and sale of fresh meat. The provisions are pretty much aligned from state to state, but ultimately each state has it's own rules. Here we aim to give you a brief overview as a starting point for your research.

Property Identification Code

A PIC is required for Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, alpacas, llamas, camels and deer. In some circumstances one will also be required for horses and poultry e.g. in South Australia commercial poultry egg or meat producer who are required to have food safety accreditation must have a PIC.

A single parcel of land though multiple titles may apply to one PIC when the land is adjoining.

You are also likely to require a National Livestock Information System (NLIS) account to record movement of stock on and off your proprty.

Depending on the type of livestock you will attach a tag with you PIC and/or an individual number on it.

We descibe how we use PIC's on our Selling livestock on The Farmers Lot page.

Transport

Animal welfare is always a consideration in farming, and transport is no different. You can find various codes and standards, Animal welfare legislation sits over the top of this.

Livestock Production Assurance National Vendor Declaration is required to acompany the transport of livestock and all reputable saleyards will insist upon it. You can order your LPA NVD booklet by contacting Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) on 1800 683 111 but many find an electronic NVD (eNVD) convenient.

The transport of fresh meat is also controlled.

Processing

You can dispatch, process and consume your own livestock on your own property, however fresh meat produced in this way can not be sold and can not leave your property. Mobile butchers may operate in your area, however this does not mean that the meat can leave your property.

When it comes to commercial activites, controls must be in place at each stage of animal processing to mitigate risk, accreditation is required and regulated state to state. Someone qualified to slaughter an animal may not be qualified to process the carcass and neither of these people are necessarily accredited for the sale of meat.