Environmental management

The environmental impacts of cattle feedlots include odour, dust, noise, and soil and water contamination. These impacts can be mitigated through:

  • Good feedlot siting and design.
  • Sound environmental management strategies.
  • Limiting cattle numbers and ensuring adequate separation between feedlots and sensitive receivers.
  • Licence conditions and regular compliance activities, including inspections.

Environmental Management Plan

Hale River has developed a comprehensive Environmental Management Plan (EMP) through an iterative process that has involved multiple rounds of EPA review and the incorporation of community input. The EMP describes how Hale River’s operation of the feedlot might impact on the surrounding environment, details the mitigation and management measures that will be implemented to prevent and minimise these impacts, and documents the environmental monitoring requirements. Through its EPA licence, Hale River will be required to implement and comply with the approved EMP.

The EMP includes mitigation and management measures that relate to:

  • air quality
  • noise
  • waste
  • water
  • land management
  • hazardous substances and dangerous goods
  • biosecurity
  • animal welfare.

Separation distances

Ensuring adequate separation between a feedlot and sensitive receivers is a widely recognised way of reducing odour, dust, and noise impacts on the surrounding community. In accordance with the Environment Protection (Air Quality) Policy 2016, the EPA considered the Evaluation Distances Guideline in its assessment of Hale River’s licence application. Under the Evaluation Distances Guideline, separation distances for beef cattle feedlots are to be determined according to the National Guidelines for Beef Cattle Feedlots in Australia.

The National Guidelines (page 45) include a variable separation distance formula, called the S-factor equation, that determines the required minimum separation distance by considering various factors:

  • the feedlot capacity
  • feedlot design and management
  • receptor types
  • topography and terrain
  • vegetative cover
  • wind direction.


The available separation distance of the Hale River feedlot is fixed due to the locations of sensitive receivers. As such, the S-factor equation was converted to instead determine the maximum capacity of the feedlot. Based on a separation distance of 620 m to the nearest sensitive receiver and a conservative evaluation of the site-specific factors, the EPA’s assessment found that the capacity of the feedlot should be 1,394 SCU.

Licence conditions

The EPA has included licence conditions to minimise the risk of impact to the environment and local community. Compliance with the conditions of Hale River’s EPA licence will be monitored and managed through regular site inspections. The full list of conditions is included in Hale River’s EPA licence (#51599).