DEAR EDITOR

Adam Woods and Philip Doyle’s recent reporting on the lack of proper animal health regulations in Brazil proved very interesting reading. The stark comparison to the extensive regulations in Ireland demonstrates just how ahead of the game Irish farmers are.

However, it is not just Brazil’s farming practices that wouldn’t meet standards on Irish soil. Australia, another food-exporting giant, is not a million miles behind.

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While there are many, many welfare-minded Australian farmers and animal health regulations do exist, the nature of the country’s agricultural scale means it is impossible to regulate.

For example, a calving cow or lambing ewe needing assistance on an Australian farm of several thousand hectares may simply never get it. Even on smaller farms, some farmers would say that their only lambing aid is a shotgun – chalk and cheese to an Irish approach.

There is strict regulation around the disposal of fallen livestock in Ireland via the knackery system. The same regulation does not exist in Australia where a dead ewe or cow is often simply thrown in a corner to decompose somewhere the smell won’t waft to any neighbouring settlement.

One of the most confronting animal husbandry practices, the castration of male calves with a pen knife, would likely see an Irish farmer put behind bars.

While the practice is mainly confined to the large cattle stations of Queensland and the Northern Territory, it does still happen, and one in 100 calves bleeding out is part of the accepted loss that goes with it for some.

Mulesing, the process of cutting strips of skin from a lamb’s hindquarters and tail area which then scars as bare skin, preventing flystrike, is also still commonplace on many Australian sheep farms, particularly in Merino flocks. While consumer demand for non-mulesed wool and lamb is growing, an outright ban is many years off.

So, why is this important? Australia also exports meat and wool into some of Ireland’s key export markets, and into Europe.

In particular, the ramping up of Australian beef and lamb exports into the United Kingdom is in direct competition with Irish and the UK’s own farmers. Industry leaders describe the UK beef and lamb market as “new and exciting”, with an export quota to increase to 110,000 tonnes over the next 15 years. In 2024, Australian beef and lamb exports to the UK hit 6,000t and they have doubled to 12,000t so far in 2025.

At a recent beef conference near Melbourne, Global AgriTrends analyst Simon Quilty said all eyes were on the British. “If you speak to any processor, they are truly working their heart out to try and gain more and more customers in this market,” he said.

Food for thought – and in need of better welfare standards – as Irish farmers continue to uphold some of the best, globally, and still face more red tape at every corner.