A PROTOYPE wool bale sterilizer has been unveiled to industry leaders in a bid to prepare the trade from impacts arising from emergency animal disease outbreaks.
The Bale Sprayer is housed in a 20 foot high-cube shipping container and can spray bales suspected of bio-hazards within 10 seconds.
It is a biosecurity measure being explored by Federation of Australian Wool Organisations and Australian Wool Innovation to assist in reducing the spread of a disease during an emergency animal disease (EAD) outbreak, in particular Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).
With the wool export industry valued at $3.6 billion, Mrs Heaney said it was critical the industry is prepared for a potential EAD outbreak in an effort to minimise the impact to the trade.
“If an FMD outbreak should occur in Australia, it could bring the entire wool industry to a stop, costing an enormous amount of money so we are looking at ways to minimise that,” Mrs Heaney said.
“We’ve seen the devastating impact of FMD in the United Kingdom and the effect on the return to the wool trade at that time.
“An EAD outbreak could affect woolgrowers, transporters, brokers, exporters and the entire supply chain of Australian wool.”
In dealing with an FMD outbreak, FAWO is currently researching how time, temperature and citric acid could deactivate the virus.
Mrs Heaney said the prototype was currently undergoing evaluation trials to determine how the bale sprayer would be utilised across the country during an emergency and whether it could perform at an acceptable speed for the trade.
Since 2011, FAWO has been working with WoolProducers Australia, AWI, Animal Health Australia and the State Departments to minimize the potential trade impact on the Australian wool industry arising from emergency animal disease outbreaks.
“In reviewing the AUSVETPLAN Manuals it was realised that there were some gaps relating to wool found on farm and post farm sectors that needed further attention,” Mrs Heaney said.
“The evaluation process will determine how it will fit it within the state legislative requirements.”