This month, one of the hot topics for NSW Farmers is biosecurity risks on farms.
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NSW Farmers have welcomed the Australian government’s zero-tolerance approach to biosecurity risk in luggage and mail as they step up protection against Food and Mouth Disease and African Swine Fever.
Farm biosecurity plans protect a property from the entry and spread of pests and diseases.
Farm biosecurity is not only a farmers responsibility, but of every person visiting or working on the property.
If a new pest or disease becomes established on farms, it affects business through increased costs (for monitoring, production practices, additional chemical use and labour), reduced productivity (in yield and/or quality) or, importantly, loss of markets.
Early detection and immediate reporting of an exotic pest or weed increases the chance of effective and efficient eradication.
In the lead up the state election, NSW Farmers is asking for $100 million to deliver a suite of measures to better address biosecurity risk and protect the profitability of our agricultural industries.
NSW Farmers is also asking for more media attention to build greater understanding of biosecurity.
Best practice for property biosecurity include:
- notifying owners or managers before entering a property;
- visitors immediately reporting to the manager on arrival at the property;
- visiting vehicles to be washed down before driving on the property and exiting.
These measures are designed to protect the farmers and their businesses, so that they are at no risk of jeopardising their biosecurity.
Throughout our local community, farmers are becoming more aware of biosecurity risks and acting to protect themselves from any hindrance to their farm production, thereby saving time and costly eradication.
