Landholders: Time to Take Stock

THE annual Land and Stock Returns are due at the end of the month and Local Land Services are encouraging landholders to complete their return or face additional charges on next year’s rates notice.

In the Hunter there are more than 19,000 land managers who need to lodge a return and more than 150,000 across New South Wales which build a statewide picture of agricultural use and livestock numbers.

Brett Minders, general manager of Local Land Services said it was important to complete a land and stock return, even if land managers have no stock.

“Collecting this information is an essential part of understanding the state’s biosecurity risks and ensuring that domestic and export livestock markets remain open for New South Wales producers,” Mr Miners said.

“Along with the stock identification and traceability systems Local Land Services manages, the information is invaluable in the event of an emergency disease outbreak, such as avian influenza or Hendra virus,” he said.

“New South Wales produce is free of many of the pests and diseases found in other parts of the world,” he said.

“That is why Local Land Services works with land managers to monitor herds and flocks and share up-to-date advice and information.

“In the Hunter region, the range of stock includes, but is not limited to cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry flocks.

“This information helps us go directly to the people whose land or stock may be affected in an emergency in our region,” Brett Miners said.

Land managers can lodge their returns online at www.lls.nsw.gov.au.