Understanding pimelea poisoning of cattle

Abstract

Toxic Pimelea species are native plants found throughout inland grazing regions of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, extending over about one third to a half of Australia’s pastoral lands. In certain years, pimelea poisoning has serious economic consequences for the pastoral cattle industry through loss of production, stock deaths and the costs of supplementary feeding and agistment in South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.

The results of field and laboratory studies have been incorporated together with documented existing knowledge to form the basis of this guide, “Understanding Pimelea Poisoning of Cattle”. It is hoped that this guide will enable landholders and advisors to identify the risk factors and deal proactively and more effectively with the incidence of pimelea thereby improving the sustainability of cattle production in regions susceptible to pimelea poisoning.