Sheep Industry Fund (SIF)
SIF Approved Projects 2024/25

Projects Managed by Livestock SA

Approved Funding

Investment Priority 1: Animal Health

Livestock SA Biosecurity Program

Service Provider: Livestock SA

Summary: An engaged and united industry approach to ensure the livestock industry has the systems, capability, and capacity to minimise the risks of, and maximise preparedness for, endemic and exotic pest, weed and disease incursions and other emerging challenges

Benefits to Industry: This project will help industry invest levies into supporting producers to implement best practice animal health, welfare and biosecurity outcomes

$266,180

Pneumonia Rapid-In Field Test

Service Provider: The University of Adelaide

Summary: Development of an in-field test for quick, accurate diagnosis of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae in sheep, aiding disease mitigation and future vaccine development

Benefits to Industry: By enabling quick diagnosis and targeted treatment, the test can contribute to better overall health and welfare of sheep. Healthy sheep are more productive, leading to increased meat and wool quality.

$140,612

Sheep Lice Compliance Program

Service Provider: Biosecurity SA/PIRSA

Summary: The sheep lice program aims to minimise the impact of sheep lice on the South Australian sheep industry by providing inspectorial services, education, advice and where appropriate compliance action.

Benefits to Industry: Limit the spread of sheep lice, therefore reducing the cost of treatment and the impact on wool production and animal welfare.

Ovine Footrot Management Program

Service Provider: Biosecurity SA/PIRSA

Summary: Enhance industry awareness of Footrot to assist producers manage the disease. Promote responsible management of footrot to support animal welfare and good economic outcomes.

Benefits to Industry: Implement the recommendations of the program review and outcomes of subsequent broad industry consultation to develop a program that addresses the concerns and objectives of the majority of sheep industry participants in SA.

Investment Priority 2: Traceability

NLIS Sheep Program

Service Provider: Biosecurity SA/PIRSA

Summary: The NLIS Sheep Program supports the South Australian sheep industry by monitoring and enforcing compliance with sheep identification and traceability standards for the purpose of disease control, food safety and market access.

Benefits to Industry: The program supports sheep identification and traceability requirements for the purpose of disease control, food safety and market access to increase consumer confidence in the sheep industry and minimise the impact of a disease or food safety incident through efficient tracing of sheep.

$216,000

Investment Priority 3: Predator Control

Box Flat Wild Dog Control

Service Provider: Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board

Summary: The Box Flat wild dog control and coordination project is to assist landholders surrounding the Ngarkat and Billliatt landscape with coordinated control of wild dogs.

Benefits to Industry: The SA Sheep Industry in the region will benefit by less sheep attacks/deaths caused by wild dogs, less stress on animals, landholder involvement (and implementation of biosecurity and more widespread control programs) and increase in knowledge and skills and community awareness of the sheep industry and risks that wild dogs place on that industry.

Eradicating Wild Dogs from Sheep Country

Service Provider: Biosecurity SA/PIRSA

Summary: SIF funds will leverage greater investment to deliver a large program of workshops, and state-wide surveys for the removal of wild dog safe havens.

Benefits to Industry: Independent economic analyses of the eradication program indicate that it will provide significant benefits to the South Australian community, with an estimated net benefit (return on investment) of $56.8 million and 49 FTE jobs over 20 years. The key outcome for sheep producers is the enhanced survival and lambing rates of sheep.

$200,000

Investment Priority 4: Advocacy

SA Industry Development

Service Provider: Livestock SA

Summary: To drive the strategic development of our sector and secure the best outcomes for SA sheep producers.

Benefits to Industry: Facilitates Livestock SA policy and advocacy efforts, enables strategic leadership and collaboration across the sheep meat and wool industry value chains, effectively manages the governance and administration of the SA Sheep Industry Fund to meet legal and government requirements and industry expectations

$903,040

Investment Priority 5: Industry Development

Gross Margin Guide 2025

Lead Agriculture Teacher for SA

Summary: The Lead Agriculture Teacher SA project will mentor, train and support agriculture teachers to deliver innovative food and fibre curriculum that engages students.

Benefits to Industry: Supported ag teachers who have the skills, networks, resources and planning to underpin successful teaching, inspired students who are engaged in best practice agriculture and help attract and retain ag teachers, who are on the front line of encouraging students to learn about ag, and then be inspired to more into an ag career.

Promoting Resilient Rangelands

Service Provider: Flinders University

Summary: Regenerative grazing practices have the potential to significantly increase production in pastoral businesses. This project will identify and demonstrate tools to facilitate regenerative grazing.

Benefits to Industry: This project will benefit the sheep industry by investigating tools for pastoralists to implement regenerative grazing practices on their properties.

$80,000

WoolTag

Service Provider: Livestock SA

Summary: Tool Box Allowance for Learner Shearers and Wool Handlers

Benefits to Industry: This project will benefit the sheep industry by assisting in attracting and retaining participants in the wool handling harvesting industry, to ensure there is a continuing supply of well-trained shearers, wool handlers and shedhands.

$10,000

SA Merino Sire Evaluation

Service Provider: Merino SA

Summary: Support to collect carcass phenotypes for eating quality traits (intramuscular fat % and shearforce) which are of critical importance to maintaining lamb eating quality and providing further information to inform sire selection.

Benefits to Industry: The project benefits the SA sheep industry by provision of sire evaluation results in an SA production system, maintaining the quality of Australian lamb and industry engagement and awareness.

$30,200

AWI Extension SA (formerly Sheep Connect SA) Communications: 2024 - 2025

Service Provider: PIRSA

Summary: AWI Extension SA (formerly Sheep Connect SA) continues to be Australian Wool Innovation Ltd.’s lead extension project in South Australia for information and skill development of wool producers. SA Sheep Industry Funds will co-fund the communication component of AWI Extension SA 2024 - 2025, delivering timely and relevant information to SA wool producers through targeted communications

Benefits to Industry: Timely and industry relevant information being disseminated through a range of mediums reaching a large proportion of SA sheep producers; increasing producer confidence to implement positive change on-farm and industry stakeholder engagement and involvement.

$44,000

SA Drought Hub

Productive Legume Pastures

Service Provider: The University of Adelaide

Summary: Improved legume pastures (serradella, biserulla, new varieties of medic and subclover) have potential to increase pasture productivity in South Australia when managed correctly.

Benefits to Industry: Maximising pasture productivity and resilience, to ensure both sufficient quantity and quality benefits overall farm productivity and profit.

Extending Skills and Networks

Service Provider: WoTL

Summary: The project provides leadership pipelines, extension of industry understanding, and builds industry networks, through scholarships at the Stepping into Leadership Program and Thriving Women Conference.

Benefits to Industry: The benefit to the SA Sheep Industry is that four women will be more capable to contribute to the sheep industry and likely to continue their career in the industry.

SA Sheep Expo 2025

Service Provider: South Australian Sheep Expo Council Inc.

Summary: Ensure that the South Australian sheep industry attracts young people that will engage and contribute to the long-term viability of the industry by developing industry capability and capacity.

Benefits to Industry: It is the goal of the SA Sheep Expo Council that attendees will develop a better understanding of the sheep industry and the opportunities it can offer. They will also develop enthusiasm and confidence to engage in what could be considered a buoyant and vibrant area of Agriculture.

Eradicating Feral Deer from Sheep Country (Year 3)

Service Provider: PIRSA

Summary: Eradicating feral deer from high-value SA sheep country using thermal assisted aerial culling over three years.

Benefits to Industry: The population of feral deer in SA is estimated to comprise around 40,000 animals; it is projected to reach 200,000 by 2032 under a ‘business-as-usual’ approach. The SA sheep industry will be a significant beneficiary of the eradication program because feral deer contribute to the unofficial grazing herd of sheep producers. A fallow deer stag (adult male) has a dry sheep equivalent (DSE) of 1.5; a red deer stag has a DSE of 3.5.

Sheep Blowfly Sterile Insect Technique – Implementation (Year 3)

Service Provider: SARDI/PIRSA

Summary: Implementation of the Sterile Insect Technique to control sheep blowfly in a 4-year pilot project on Kangaroo Island.

Benefits to Industry: Efficient control of SBF with SIT is of high value for all sheep producers (wool and meat) as all of the industry is affected by flystrike risk. SIT control of SBF will not only will reduce costs for mulesing and chemical treatments, reduce production loss and improve animal wellbeing, but it also increases the value of the wool and meat. Current costs for SBF management in SA are estimated at >60 M$/year. For this pilot project, the benefit of SBF eradication to the island’s 600,000 heads sheep industry is estimated at 88 million dollars over a 25-year period, not counting the premium value of ‘non-mulesed’ meat and wool and additional market access opportunities.

$100,000

Sheep Pain Mitigation Program (Year 3)

Service Provider: The University of Adelaide

Summary: Rapidly reindicate drugs to treat chronic pain through the use of tests to quantitatively measure pain and demonstrate drug efficacy and associated productivity gains.

Benefits to Industry: We expect these outputs will benefit productivity, profit, and consumer perception. Objective measurement of pain and effective pain mitigation strategies are critical to maintaining consumer support critical to the prosperity of Australia’s sheepmeat industry as identified in the Sheepmeat Industry Strategy Plan. Persistent pain reduces productivity. The effects are likely to cause shorter productive lives, lower productivity, and higher disease burden. We expect lambs effectively treated to avoid persistent pain would have at least 1kg greater live weight gain between marking and slaughter or would reach target weight more quickly. We also expect ewes that were treated as lambs will be more resilient as indicated by greater ability to maintain body condition throughout an annual production cycle.

Containment Feeding (Year 2)

Service Provider: The University of Adelaide

Summary: Building producer skill, knowledge and supporting the implementation of best practice sheep containment feeding practices in South Australia. The project will establish regional expertise, central hub of important resources and contacts, small producer learning groups and the legacy of an MLA supported learning package.

Benefits to Industry: Experts will train, coach and mentor other advisors to build capacity and expand regional expertise, assisting farmers to plan and implement containment feeding systems. SA has expertise to lead in this space and will be central to enhancing capacity (strong linkages to the SA Livestock Consultants group).

Small Project Fund