FARM BIOSECURITY
24 Jun 2019
Biosecurity describes what you do to reduce the risk of diseases, weeds, and pests affecting your farm, crops, and livestock. The best defense against these risks is to implement sound practices on your property. Quick and straightforward biosecurity steps built into ordinary practice will help protect your farm and your future
Having good biosecurity practices on your property can mean;
- Higher productivity because of healthier plants and livestock
- Getting better yields at lower costs while keeping access to local, interstate, and international markets
- Reducing damage and containment of disease and weed outbreaks through early detection and management
- Reduced costs due to faster eradication and shorter quarantine periods
- Lower risk of market disruption
A robust biosecurity system is critical to protecting our communities, economy, industries, and environment from the potentially devastating impacts of pests and disease.
Everyone has an obligation under the Biosecurity Act 2015 to:
- Report high risk and priority pests and diseases (notifiable pests and diseases, prohibited matter, and biosecurity events)
- Control pest animals
- Have appropriate accreditation, registrations, certificates, and permits relevant to your operation.
Businesses and individuals need to know about biosecurity risks, manage them, and take action.
A farm biosecurity plan is a written document that contains the processes you have in place to mitigate the risks of disease or weed entry or spread. Developing a biosecurity plan can help producers build awareness of what they are already doing better understand what else they should be doing to reduce their risk of introducing a pest or disease onto their farm.
A biosecurity plan is also essential for meeting the requirements of Livestock Production Assurance (LPA).
A guide to developing a biosecurity plan for your property can be found at Farm Biosecurity
If you need help developing your biosecurity plan or discussing ideas for farm biosecurity, contact your nearest Local Land Services office.