As producers head into their third consecutive big wet spring, agents are warning to be mindful of grass seed and how it might affect skin and carcase quality.
Forbes Livestock Agency's Tim Mackay said this was an issue that was becoming a top priority, especially from a processing point of view.
He said with many parts of Australia experiencing above average rainfall and good seasonal conditions, he was expecting a third spring of exceptional pasture and grass growth which would mean the risk of grass seed would be significant.
"Some of our native grasses such as corkscrew, spear grass and even crowsfoot at maturity shed seed that can penetrate our sheep's hide," Mr Mackay said.
As lambs graze on and walk through seedy pastures, the seed is collected in the wool or hair and then can enter the body within a few days. The seed penetrates through the skin and is then lodged in the muscle and fat below.
"Once this happens it's there to stay," Mr Mackay said.
"This is causing very significant cost to the sheep industry and not many producers realise the full extent of this," he said.
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He said grass seed lesions in sheep and lambs generally increased in severity throughout October to January, but with the good season this spring coupled with the amount of lambs carried over, many lamb carcases were already showing the effects of seed contamination and this was only expected to increase.
JBS Southern livestock manager Steve Chapman said grass seed was a major cost in production time and damage to the carcass due to trimming.
Once the grass seed makes its way into the muscle, all meat or tissue surrounding the seed is then contaminated and needs to be removed.
"It is the absolute worst phone call you can ever make to a producer, is when they send in a load of lambs that are 100 per cent infected with grass seed," Mr Chapman said.
"Whilst the maximum penalty imposed is $1 a kilogram, carcases with grass seed in terms of the real commercial impact, we would lose around $2.80/kg.
We are no longer able to attract a premium price for the product and the cuts are seriously downgraded into low end markets to avoid the risk associated with a loss of license into particular key markets" Mr Chapman said.
"You have to be very careful, if we have a point of entry detection of a single grass seen in any of our products in a market like the United States, we will lose our US license".
"If a major processor lost their US license in Australia, I don't know how many millions of dollars that would be worth to the lamb industry, but that would be a massive negative impact.
And furthermore, if two major processors were faced with the same issue, it would be an absolute disaster for the Australian lamb industry" he said.
Signs of grass seed penetrations in lambs were extremely hard to see, which meant it was hard to diagnose or detect affected lambs.
One thing that may exaggerate the issue this year was the length of time producers had to wait to get lambs shorn.
"You have to be so cautious because the unfortunate part about it is as soon as you detect that seed and the place of detection is at slaughter, there is no turning back" Mr Chapman said.
"You can have lambs that don't physically have seed in their skin, and have been shorn, and we have had many fatteners that have inherited their seed, not from their property or under their management, but from the original property the lambs were consigned from," he said.
Mr Mackay said some buyers were beginning to identify lambs in saleyards from certain areas with seed problems by using the property identification codes on the sheep's ear tag and avoiding them.
Although there is no treatment for the grass seeds, grazing and pasture management was a key aspect in preventing it.
"It is a very contentious issue and in a lot of cases we are dealing with a major agronomy problem in the meat industry," Mr Chapman said.
"It can be managed, particularly in the farming country. It is management strategies like spraying fence lines or under trees where most lambs camp and take shelter, these are the areas that need real focus," he said.
Mr Macaey said this was where breeders needed to become more vigilant of where they ran their lambs from birth to sale.
"I know it might not be that easy for some, but this is a very serious matter," he said.
"It's hard enough in this industry as it is, so if we all do our bit to stop this major seed problem it will help take some of the uncertainty out of this job," Mr Mackay said
