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Growers who implement on-farm biosecurity measures play a key role in protecting Australia’s $85 billion agricultural industry from pests and diseases.
Effective biosecurity practices keep Australia free from many of the exotic pests and diseases that affect plant industries overseas, providing domestic and international trade benefits.
On-farm biosecurity practices are one of the best defences against a pest or disease outbreak and a good farm biosecurity plan can help keep risks low by identifying everyday biosecurity practices that will help protect your farm.
“A farm biosecurity plan is a practical tool for farmers to prevent, eliminate and minimise on-farm biosecurity risks,” said Stuart Kearns, Plant Health Australia’s (PHA) National Manager, Preparedness and RD&E.
“Being prepared minimises the impact and helps maintain business continuity in the event of a pest or disease outbreak,” he said.
A good starting point when preparing a farm biosecurity plan, is to consider six biosecurity essentials:
“Decontamination procedures, wash down points, records of visitors to the property, and a record of materials and farming machinery that have been brought on to a property, is key information to be included in a farm biosecurity plan,” said Mr Kearns.
Biosecurity zones or check points should be identified as part of the plan with biosecurity signs at entrances to the property, parking areas near the house or site office, where deliveries are picked-up or dropped-off in relation to storage facilities, vehicle wash down areas, existing roads or tracks for movement within the property.
Biosecurity is a shared responsibility. Discuss your farm biosecurity practices and concerns with neighbouring properties and work together to create solutions for common concerns.
The Farm Biosecurity Program, a joint initiative between PHA and Animal Health Australia (AHA), has developed a Farm Biosecurity Action Planner to assist in implementing on-farm biosecurity. For more useful farm biosecurity tools, visit the Farm Biosecurity website.
Subscribe to Farm Biosecurity News, a bi-monthly e-newsletter that contains the latest pest and disease alerts, updates about new resources such as videos, facts sheets and apps related to on-farm biosecurity.