Cattle producers are invited to attend a free information session at Nabiac on Monday, August 21 to help ensure their farm is ready for the new Farm Biosecurity Planning requirement.
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Hunter Local Land Services is offering advice to assist livestock producers to be prepared for the new Johne’s Beef Assurance System (J-BAS) and changes to the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) system, both of which require producers to have a documented Farm Biosecurity Plan.
From October 1, producers will need to complete a Biosecurity Plan for accreditation under the Livestock Production Assurance program (LPA).
Accreditation with LPA is a crucial part of Australia’s red meat food safety system and is required for continued use of National Vendor Declarations (NVDs).
The need for a farm Biosecurity plan is also a part of the new industry-driven approach to managing Bovine Johne’s Diseases in Australia.
Producers who opt to have a JBAS score will need to have a farm Biosecurity plan in place. The JBAS is an important tool to help producers manage the risk of introducing Bovine Johne’s Disease into their herd and to communicate their herd’s status to buyers of their cattle.
As a third incentive, a farm Biosecurity plan will also help producers fulfil their General Biosecurity Duty under the new Biosecurity legislation that came into force last month.
The workshop will explain these three changes and help producers to find and use available biosecurity planning resources.
Most producers already practice good farm biosecurity by selecting where they buy stock, drenching new stock on arrival and quarantining these animals in yards for a period of time.
These, along with other steps, are important Biosecurity practices used by farmers as they recognise it makes sound farm business sense to prevent the entry of pests, disease and weeds onto their farm.
“This biosecurity approach now just needs to be put on paper in a plan,” District Veterinarian with Hunter Local Land Services, Dr Lyndell Stone said.
“Producers will leave the information session with all the resources needed to complete their own farm biosecurity plan.”
The Information Session is a joint initiative between Karuah Great lakes Landcare and Hunter Local Land Services. Please RSVP to Joel Dunn 0401 932 533joel.dunn@glcr.org.au
Hunter Local Land Services will also be holding a series of workshops and smaller forums across the district in the coming months, with more dates and locations to be advertised soon.