Livestock Data Link (LDL) is a new initiative from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) that aims to enhance the exchange and utilisation of carcase performance information by businesses within the red meat industry. LDL is a web-based application that links slaughter data from the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) database with analytical tools, benchmarking reports, as well as LDL’s “Solutions to Feedback” library.
Up to 25% of cattle and somewhere between 30-65% of lambs in southern Australia miss their target market specifications at slaughter. Non-compliance of market specifications is costly to both the producer and the processor, making it one of MLA’s priority areas for improvement over the next three years.
Livestock Data Link will enable producers and processors to analyse carcase feedback information in relation to compliance to market specifications and performance outcomes will be linked to a libran./ of resources and solutions on how to address non-compliant issues on-farm. In the future the application will also be integrated with animal health statements to link with issues of disease condemnation or contamination.
Once LDL has been broadly taken up by the red meat sector it has the potential to increase compliance, reduce carcase value losses and potentially integrate with other systems that could help drive genetic improvement in herds and flocks.
At an industry level, LDL offers an opportunity to analyse feedback data to understand and measure carcase performance across the board and identify areas that can be targeted for increased education or R&D investment.
Although LDL is available for both sheep and cattle carcase analysis, the investigation and findings of this paper will be focused on the beef sector. However, it is likely that my findings will be transferrable to the sheep sector.
Penny Schulz
