As the Agistee you want to know the circumstances under which your stock will be running. Will they be running in a mob on their own? If they are running with other stock, are those stock agisted or your own? This obviously poses animal health, biosecurity risks, and production/performance risks. This may also assist in determining the agistment rate.

This is a very important fact to establish, common disease such as Pestivirus, Brucellosis, Lice, Footrot etc. could be detrimental to the health of your animals if not previously vaccinated or exposed. Understand the Biosecurity risks with each agistment opportunity.

When undertaking agistment you should be looking to maximise the production benefits from the agistment opportunity. Healthy parasite free livestock will be set up to take full advantage of the production benefits, the agistment allows.

If stock are moving from dry low nutrition pastures to lush green pastures pulpy kidney for example can cause death. So 5in1/7in1 vaccines would be a prudent action.

As the Agistee you want to know what to expect if you are unfamiliar with the area. While you are not asking for a crystal ball outlook, it is good to know what you could ordinarily expect the season to do. Therefor what will happen to the feed quality on offer over the term of the agistment agreement.

What paddocks will my stock have access to? This gives you an understanding of the mix in pasture types, pasture quality and a view in your mind of the feed on offer and performance of the livestock over the agistment period.

Don’t take simple thoughts for granted. It is always best policy to ask these questions before you start. Organise basic protocols about visits, Eg. An Agistor may require 24hrs notice prior to a visit. Can I look around the stock on my own or would the Agistor prefer to take the Agistee around? Simple questions best resolved prior to entering into an agreement.

Will the Agistor muster the stock to the yards at completion? The Agistor may offer one free muster through the agistment period and charge for additional musters. Do I have access to the yards if I need to treat animals at some point in the agreement? These are all questions best resolved prior to commencing an agistment Agreement.

Will the Agistor allow me to join stock while on agistment. Rams and bulls can provide logistical issues for the Agistor. Identify these issues before coming to an agreement.

In its basic form, agistment is an agreement to sell grass. Body weight has a direct relationship with maintenance requirements of the individual animal, therefor the amount of grass the animal will consume to maintain itself. A very important question when determining agistment rates.

Body weight will also give the Agistor an indication as to the health of the animals being described. Eg. Drought affected.

This question goes hand in hand with body weight, painting a picture of the health and fitness of the animals. It will give you the Agistor an understanding of potential issues when they land on your property and alerting you to any processes the Agistee should carry out prior to transporting the livestock.

This question gives the Agistor a better understanding of the Agistee’s knowledge of the livestock. Mainly their health status and any biosecurity risk they may bring to your property.

If females, are they pregnant? If yes, when do they calve/lamb? Will the Agistee want to join them over the course of the agistment agreement?

Calving/Lambing females create logistical issues around moving animals off farm if needed.

As the “local” you may have a better understanding of possible animal health risks. This allows you to suggest appropriate treatments to give animals prior to arriving on agistment, ensuring animal health risks are minimised.