I spy with my little eye, something beginning with diseases, pests and weeds

Two of the simplest, cheapest and most effective biosecurity actions you can take are monitoring and keeping a record of the health of your crops and livestock.

What’s even better is that with the right planning, stock and crop monitoring can be integrated into those everyday farm jobs like vaccinating, spraying for weeds or insect pests or being out and about mending fences.

Most importantly, regular monitoring of your pastures, crops and livestock gives you the best chance of identifying a new disease, weed or pest before it becomes established.

What’s the best way to monitor and record?

The key points to a good monitoring and recording regime are:

• Establishing an active monitoring and recording program that records all results, even when nothing is found.
• Knowing what to look for by becoming familiar with the usual animal and plant disease symptoms, insect pests and weeds found on your property (and in your region) and knowing when something unusual pops up.
• Consulting with neighbours on anything suspicious, as it is unlikely that the cause of the problem stops at your own property boundaries.
• Knowing what the high priority biosecurity threats are for your enterprises – this information is available through your local veterinarian, industry group or state/territory department of primary industries. The Farm Biosecurity website’s ‘Pests’ pages under the Crops tab also contains information about high priority pests of crops.
• Ensuring your farm personnel know how and where to report any unusual diseases, pests or weeds.

What if I have found something unusual?

Any unusual pest or disease symptom should be reported immediately to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888 or the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline on 1800 084 881.

Early detection and reporting enhances the chance of eradication or effective pest control and will also minimise the long-term damage to the individual producer and their industry.

If you suspect you have found an exotic pest, the following general precautions should be taken:

• Report it.
• Photograph the pest or disease symptoms.
• Mark the location of the pest in your crop or isolate affected livestock.
• Wash hands, clothes and boots that have been in contact with affected animals, plant material or soil.
• Restrict the movement of people or equipment near the affected area.
• Do not touch, move or send affected material anywhere. Contact your state or territory department of primary industries and they will tell you the correct protocols for sampling, handling and transporting samples. Incorrect handling could further spread the pest or make the samples unfit for diagnosis.
• Identify people, stock, machinery and vehicles that have recently been in the area and prepare them for decontamination or treatment. Accurate records of people and equipment that has been in contact with the property will help to track the origin and potential spread of the pest or disease.

Where do I go for more information?

For more specific information, including a video about monitoring and recording, head to the ‘Train, Plan, Record’ page on the Farm Biosecurity website.

To develop a biosecurity plan for your property that incorporates monitoring and recording, download a copy of the Farm Biosecurity Action Planner.