AAA Member Update #17

The AAA fortnightly update is our way of communicating  with all AAA members. 

As a result of this presentation, the Board and CEO are now considering a review of a number of our governance documents.

We discussed among other things the following subjects and I am happy to report that significant headway was made in all areas:

• We will be undertaking a review of the current Strategic Direction and Operations Plan to ensure it aligns with the agreed direction of the new Board so that we can also align the annual budget.
• We reviewed the financial position of the Association. Our new Treasurer is also working closely with the CEO  on the establishment of new procedures for efficiencies in the processing of financial transactions.
• We received and reviewed a report from the convenor of the 2019 National Show – This report highlighted some issues to consider as we plan for our 2020 National Show.  We anticipate that the date and venue will be communicated by mid-December.
• All Board Members discussed plans for their respective portfolios – there are many exciting initiatives planned and these will be communicated as we have more detail available.
• The Board approved the call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for working groups to assist Directors Prue Walduck and Sarah Wheeler in the areas of market access and trade and training respectively – these EOI’s will be released shortly. I encourage all members to give consideration on being involved.
• The Board identified the need to review all the current Codes of Conduct and Complaints Procedure. We hope to have this task completed by the new year and available for review by Regional Presidents at the Council meeting in February 2020.
• The Council meeting with Regional Presidents will take place on 8-9 February. 
• Regional support requirements were discussed. The President and Vice-President have commenced having regular teleconferences with all Regional Presidents to increase two-way communication and build a stronger relationship between the Board and Regions.  These teleconferences are planned every three months. We have already seen rapid progression of some key outcomes, e.g. all regions are now on board with the new website structure. 
• There was significant discussion with regards to the role of the Association in drought support to our members and advocacy to government.
• A great deal of time was spent discussing our Alpaca Youth and how we can realise efficiencies in the operation of our National Alpaca Youth Committee, and its engagement and support of the regionally based youth elements.
• We are exploring the possibility of engaging with an external provider for the provision of travel packages for members who may want to attend the World Alpaca Conference and/or the Alpaca Fiesta in 2021.
•  A review was conducted into the Showing and Judging Committee (SJC) recommendations from the recent apprentice Judges Selection weekends. The Board has resolved to appoint six new apprentice judges. These apprentices will be notified soon and will start their apprenticeships at the commencement of the 2020 showing season.

Your new Board has certainly hit the ground running and there has been no loss of momentum since the election September. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank all of our new and existing Board, along with our CEO and office staff for the rapid transition that has been made in this time.

Until next time, hoping you all get the necessary rain to get you through these tough times and that all your cria are born healthy.

Biosecurity in the alpaca industry - Sarah Wheeler 

Q Alpaca has been in place for the past 15 years, and is managed by the AAA office. It was developed by the industry and supported by the Animal Health Committee. Originally, the aim was to monitor causes of death and co-morbidity, including bovine  Johne's disease in the national herd. However, it now encompasses broader biosecurity practices. 

The Q Alpaca program aims to have AAA members and their veterinarians working together to protect the herd against infectious diseases.  Participants are required to provide a herd management plan covering the number of animals in the herd, including any  agisted  animals, identifying the land/paddocks that the alpacas will have access to.

The Biosecurity Working Group  was established in June 2019. Comprising of a Board  representative, veterinarians, an Animal Health Australia (AHA) representative, breeders, a traceability specialist and the Q Alpaca registrar.  It is a consultative group working to provide recommendations to the AAA Board for their approval and implementation.  

The group are looking at a replacement program to reflect today’s needs, which may or may not include a tiered program. It must able to address biosecurity issues, livestock traceability - particularly relating to tags and the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database - as well as fitting a commercial herd.  

They will also look at a revision of the industry biosecurity strategy and provide feedback on issues, threats and risks to the alpaca industry and supply chain related to biosecurity and traceability. 

Work commenced in 2009 into a traceability program for Alpaca and Llama (A&L) under a Commonwealth Government grant held in trust by AHA.  Work stalled when feedback from Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) indicated significant costs in developing and maintaining the NLIS data base for A&L.  An Electronic Identification (EID) tag trail was underway and needed to be completed before the system could progress. NLIS standards committee agreed to use one EID tag.  

The Commonwealth sees gaps in the livestock traceability system and there is increased pressure on industries like ours that don’t currently have full traceability of animal movements.

Late 2018 saw discussions resume with Integrity Systems Company, a subsidiary of MLA, which now manage the database. Developmental costs have decreased significantly to approx. $37,500 (covered by government funding), with yearly maintenance costs of approx. $5,000. This will provide a fully functional database on par with sheep, cattle and goats. There has now been approval for the database to be set up which is an exciting development.  

Work is also underway to look at having the Camelid Waybill in place for all shows next year. Click here.

It is important that we start to take biosecurity seriously to ensure our industry.

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