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Foot-and-mouth disease
Biosecurity does not stop at the property gate. The way people, vehicles, equipment and deliveries enter your property can make a big difference to managing biosecurity risks.
Clear entry points, signs, parking areas and access routes make it easier for visitors, contractors and delivery drivers to do the right thing when they arrive. They can also help reduce the risk of pests, diseases and weeds being brought onto your property or spread between areas.
When people know where to enter, where to park and which areas are restricted, it is easier to manage movement and reduce biosecurity risk.
A property map is a useful starting point for identifying where biosecurity risks may enter and move across your property.
Your map should show the main entry and exit points, visitor parking areas, office or check-in locations, production areas, sheds and storage spaces, delivery and pickup points, cleaning or wash-down areas, roads, tracks and vehicle routes, and areas where access should be limited.
Mapping these areas can help you decide where signs, parking, wash-down facilities and restricted access points should be located. It can also help when developing or reviewing your on-farm biosecurity plan.
If you have not already mapped these areas, the Farm Biosecurity Action Planner can help you identify risks and plan practical steps for your property.
Multiple entry points can make it harder to manage who comes onto your property and where they go.
Where possible, direct visitors, contractors, deliveries and service providers to one or two preferred entry points. Lock or close unused gates where practical and use signs to show people where to go.
Good signage should include clear instructions and relevant contact details. It can help direct people to visitor parking, the office or sign-in area, delivery points, clean-down areas and restricted access areas.
Farm gate signage can help set expectations before people enter.
Not everyone who enters your property needs to enter production areas.
Designated parking, delivery areas and access routes can help keep unnecessary movement away from crops, plants, sheds, packing areas and other production areas.
Clear vehicle routes can help guide essential access, while restricted access points can help protect paddocks, production blocks, sheds and packing areas. If vehicles, machinery, equipment or footwear need to enter production areas, clean-down areas should be easy to find and use.
The aim is to make the safest route the easiest route to follow.
Find out more about People, vehicles and equipment.
Vehicles, machinery, equipment and footwear can carry soil, plant material, pests, diseases and weed seeds.
If they need to enter production areas, provide a clear place for cleaning before they move further onto the property. Clean-down areas should be easy to find, practical to use and located where run-off can be managed away from production areas, waterways and clean zones.
It is also useful to monitor areas near parking, roads, tracks and clean-down facilities for weeds, pests or signs of disease.
For more information on cleaning vehicles, equipment and footwear, read Come clean, go clean to reduce biosecurity risks.
Some properties use zones to manage different levels of biosecurity risk. This can help separate general access areas, vehicle routes and production areas.
For example, visitors and deliveries may only need access to an entrance, office or parking area, while machinery, staff or essential contractors may need to move into production areas under stronger hygiene requirements.
Zones should reflect how your property operates. The important thing is to think about where risk is most likely to enter, where it could spread, and what needs to happen before people, vehicles or equipment move into higher-risk areas.
For more detailed guidance, read more about Using property zoning to implement biosecurity on-farm.
Check whether it works
A good boundary system should be easy for people to follow.
Ask yourself:
Clear boundaries, entry points and access arrangements help people do the right thing when they arrive. By managing how people, vehicles, equipment and deliveries move around your property, you can reduce the risk of pests, diseases and weeds entering and spreading on-farm.
Related articles
This article is part of the Biosecurity basics series, which explores simple, practical actions to reduce biosecurity risks on farm.
Read other articles in the series:
