3 March 2026. Shane McCarthy, AgForce General President.
The spread of the cattle tick outbreak around Taroom in the Western Downs is raising concerns about a breakdown in the integrity of our biosecurity system.
We fear if the outbreak continues to spread it will cost producers time, money, and animal health in what should be a tick-free zone.
This is clearly a failure of the system. Outbreaks like this shouldn't be happening, and education, tighter compliance, and more boots on the ground surveillance from the department should all be on the table in response as we figure our what went wrong and what needs to change.
It's clear we need to do some re-education or at the very least a review of the system that is in place at the moment, and where the safeguards are falling down. Because if everything is working properly, these outbreaks shouldn't happen as regularly as they are. We realise that the tick line can bend a bit in wet seasons for various reasons, but when outbreaks happen in previously clean areas, that points to a breakdown somewhere along the line in the system. So it's crucial we find out where that breakdown is, fix it, and tighten up whatever we can to make sure that it doesn't happen again.
Any outbreak of this size in tick-free zones is concerning because worst case scenario is that cattle get sick and die, which is not what we want.
Producers and the Department of Primary Industries have collectively spent a lot of money, time and effort to get those areas free of tick. So to have the tick gap come back into those areas is not good and really concerning. It costs producers money to get the tick back out of those areas. And it's not a quick process. It can be a lengthy process. We need to find out where the system is going wrong and fix it.
More than likely it's from producers bringing in cattle that are infested for whatever reason, that's generally how the tick gets there. It could be that they unwittingly brought tick in, but that is why we need to investigate. The reason the procedures we have are so stringent to follow is because we need that ability to be able to trace where it came from and make sure that it doesn't happen again.
There's a few reports we are hearing from producers that they need more surveillance operations from DPI. And the government has promised more departmental staff. We've always advocated that those departmental staff need to be boots on the ground. Whether that's in surveillance or in education, they shouldn't need to be tied up in an office somewhere. They need to actually physically be a presence out on the ground there so people can see them. And then that presence there deters people from doing the wrong thing.
This is where AgForce advocacy comes to the fore. We are having constant discussions with the government and the department to make sure that adequate help is put out there to get this outbreak cleared up as soon as possible and to ensure producers are given the help that they need to do that.
We need presence on the ground right now. And we're making sure that is happening. The department is giving us updates, and I believe they delayed the response for a while so they could have all the information and answers for people instead of just going in there and not knowing any answers to start with.
AgForce will continue working with government and the department to ensure this outbreak is contained quickly and that the integrity of our biosecurity system is restored. Producers deserve a system that works - one that protects their livelihoods, their livestock and the future of regional Queensland.
Because at the end of the day, every family needs a farmer.
