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Foot-and-mouth disease
Any machinery or vehicles coming onto your property, whether it is hired, borrowed, second-hand, contractor’s machinery, or privately owned can spread pests, diseases and weeds.
Vehicles can spread pests in soil and plant material. It is impractical to stop all vehicle and equipment movement on and around the property, but there are steps you can take to minimise the entry and spread of weeds, pests and diseases.
Reducing risks posed by vehicles
Biosecurity risks posed by vehicles are best dealt with by either restricting their movement or making sure they’re clean. Having vehicles park in a designated area gives you more control over risks.
You can inspect vehicles, talk to the driver about where they’ve come from and decide whether they are an acceptable risk.
Use a dedicated farm vehicle to move through production areas whenever possible; otherwise offer the use of a wash-down facility to clean vehicles before allowing them access to production areas.
In cropping areas, keep vehicle movement to a minimum, especially on wet soil. Stick to regular pathways to minimise the threat of spreading pests and inspect these areas regularly for any problems.
Parking areas provide the opportunity to contain any potential pests away from production sites.
Wash-down facilities
A dedicated area for cleaning vehicles and equipment provides a great deal of protection against the introduction of new weeds and pests onto your property.
High-pressure water or compressed air allows easy cleaning of all farm vehicles and equipment, and any visitor vehicles that need to enter production areas.
Locate a wash-down facility after the parking area or reception, and away from production areas. A sealed (concrete or bitumen) surface or a pad of packed gravel is ideal, with a sump to collect wastewater and debris. Make sure mud, soil and plant material are kept away from crops, storage areas and waterways.
Inspect the wash-down facility regularly for the presence of pests and weeds and treat as required.
The wash-down area may be the same as that used for chemical wash-down of vehicles and equipment. If so, all health and safety issues associated with chemical wash-down areas must be considered.
Reducing risks posed by machinery and equipment
Soil, plant and grain material containing pests and weeds can be carried on and inside equipment such as harvesters, sprayers, seeders, balers, augers and field bins.
It’s important to keep all farm equipment clean and ensure that any machinery brought onto your property doesn’t pose a risk. It’s best practice to keep a record with machinery of when it was last cleaned.
Regularly clean all tools and equipment, preferably with air or water steam high pressure or a farm cleaning product.
