RURAL leaders are calling for an inventory of Australian fodder stocks in the wake of bush fires and ongoing drought.
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At the bush fire round table in Canberra it became alarmingly evident that there was no way of determining Australia's level of supplies.
Australian Fodder Industry Association (AFIA) chief executive officer John McKew said now was the time to launch a database and account for overall stocks.
He said a database could be backed up by an app and would rely on growers to log their production details.
Currently a hay report is prepared for the dairy industry each week and the export fodder market is monitored however, a database could take this information further.
"We are not in a position to answer in a strong and quantitative way how much fodder is on hand," Mr McKew said.
With around 30 industries represented at the round table Mr McKew said the consensus confirmed the need for a full stock-feed inventory.
"If this (database) was set up we would be in a good position, when stocks and information are critical, to provide information," Mr McKew said.
For the system to work there would need to be collaboration and transparency across the livestock and cropping sectors.
Data would be gathered from the beef and sheep industry along with grain producers and hay specialists.
The last comprehensive document was prepared more than 10 years ago and it was titled Overview of the Australian Industry and it was prepared by RIRDC (now Agrifutures) together with AFIA and ABARES.
Mr McKew said the establishment of such a database and information would be useful during the current situation but would also support industry during better times as well.
He said currently with so many trucks currently carting hay to drought and fire-affected regions the stocks were running low.