Seven guidelines shared to help keep property free of pests, diseases

Beef + Lamb biosecurity and animal welfare senior adviser Will Halliday, of Masterton, spoke...
Beef + Lamb biosecurity and animal welfare senior adviser Will Halliday, of Masterton, spoke about the seven biosecurity interventions farmers can implement to protect their business. PHOTO: SHAWN MCAVINUE
Your farm, your livelihood, your rules.

This was the sentiment shared by Beef + Lamb biosecurity and animal welfare senior adviser Will Halliday at a Beef + Lamb biosecurity workshop in Becks last week.

Dr Halliday listed seven intervention points for on-farm biosecurity to the nearly 20 people at the workshop.

"If you follow these seven guidelines, then you should go pretty far in being able to keep yourself free of pests and diseases on your farm."

Biosecurity was a set of measures to prevent the entry, establishment and spread of pests and diseases.

"It is something you can do on your farm every day to protect you from what your neighbour, or the person down the road, might have in their livestock — it is about reducing risk."

Risk had two parts — the probability and the consequence of something happening.

For example, the probability of foot-and-mouth disease getting to New Zealand was "extremely low" but the consequence was "extreme".

"It would be a national livestock standstill."

Diseases already in New Zealand, or "endemic nasties", include tuberculosis, which was a "hot topic" in Otago due to it spreading. The consequences of a herd being infected with tuberculosis could be "quite drastic".

"It’s your business, it’s your way of life and you are the one who can control it."

He listed seven biosecurity interventions.

 - Intervention point one: Livestock movements

Direct contact between a healthy animal and an infected animal was the most common way for pests and diseases to spread. Recommended practices include checking the health status of stock before purchasing, drenching sheep at origin or on arrival, holding new stock in quarantine, regularly inspecting fences for faults and complying with Nait obligations.

 - Intervention point two: Animal health management

"A well fed, well cared for animal is going to be better able to fight off disease."

 - Intervention point three: People and equipment

"Who is coming on to your farm, why and where have they been, what are they doing and what are they carrying with them."

 - Intervention point four: Feed and water

"If you are buying in hay and silage, or any other kind of animal feed, where is it from and what else is coming with it?"

 - Intervention point five: Pest control

Invasive weeds, vermin and wild or feral animals could enter a farm unaided and spread pests and disease to stock and paddocks. Recommended practices include regularly monitoring and controlling pests and weed populations.

 - Intervention point six: Animal waste

The life cycle of many pests involved them being shed in urine or faeces and the contaminated pasture being re-ingested. Recommended practices include managing animal waste to reduce the potential for swift disease spread through the herd. e.g Provide multiple feeding or watering facilities to discourage the whole mob congregating and defecating together.

 - Intervention point seven: Shared knowledge and understanding

Everyone involved in your farming business must be aware of your requirements and know why they are important.

"It’s your business, it is your livelihood, it is your way of life."

shawn.mcavinue@alliedpress.co.nz

 

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