Livestock & animals

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development supply chain support, research and development and rigorous biosecurity systems underpin the economic success of Western Australia’s livestock industries. In 2011/12, the WA livestock industries contributed 26% of the state’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry production, worth approximately $2 billion at the farm gate.

WA is a world leader in live exports, super fine wool production and dryland sheep and grain systems. Both cattle and sheep systems are focused on export markets to Asia and the Middle East. WA also has innovative, world-class integrated dairy and pork industries meeting local and South East Asian demand for safe, fresh milk and pork. The WA poultry industry is growing strongly as a result of increasing domestic consumption.

Global demand for high-quality, safe animal protein and products produced according to high animal welfare standards will continue to rise in coming years. Increasingly DAFWA will partner with industry -- locally, nationally and internationally -- in transformational business projects to capitalise on this demand.

Articles

  • FEED365 is a four-year project (2021–2025) under the SheepLinks program that engages sheep producers and allied industries to re-design livestock forage systems for grazing

  • In collaboration with the Moredun Research Institute (United Kingdom), the world’s first sheep worm vaccine has been produced at the Albany parasitology laboratories.

  • Objective Carcase Measurement (OCM) Feedback is a four-year (2022- 2025) project under the SheepLinks program, to assist WA producers with understanding carcase feedback, improving carcase quality,

  • FutureSheep is a three-year project (2021-2024) under the SheepLinks program, to assist Western Australian (WA) sheep enterprises in the medium and low rainfall zones adapt to the impacts of projec

  • The Genetic Resource Flock of Western Australia, previously called the Information Nucleus Flock, was established by the Sheep Cooperative Research Centre (Sheep CRC) in 2007 and is now funded by M

  • The SheepLinks Program is a partnership between the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) and the Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), to underpin the future prosperity

  • The Sheep Industry Business Innovation (SIBI) Scholarships program was an initiative designed to support and encourage individuals who wished to pursue further study by addressing key industry ques

  • This project is focused on finding indicator traits that could be used to select indirectly for resistance to breech strike in Merino sheep in winter rainfall regions.

  • The demand for high value agricultural produce continues to increase and provides great opportunity to Australian agriculture.

  • Sheep Updates was a leading event for the Western Australian sheepmeat and wool industries. A one day gala event was held in Perth every two years and regional updates were held in the alternate ye