Every time you visit a farm, orchard, or nursery you MUST clean and disinfect your footwear or leave them behind. Anything less almost certainly means spreading weeds as this article from the Progressive Farmer exposes. “We planted the mud from two pairs of boots in a greenhouse flat. “It really wasn’t all that much mud. […]
Monday, 27 July marks the start of Biosecurity Week 2020, which will see a week of activities across Aotearoa in which those working in the biosecurity sector highlight their work to their communities. The event is led by the NZ Biosecurity Institute and this year’s theme is 20-20 Vigilance. Institute president Alice McNatty said Covid 19 has shown […]
Here’s another insightful article from Biosecurity Australia about making sure you’re not caught on the back foot when an outbreak occurs. Epidemic, incursion, outbreak: call it what you like, you should take note of what’s happening in Australia (and New Zealand) in response to COVID-19, because crop, livestock pest and disease outbreaks play out quite […]
New research out of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) this week confirms that Covid-19, like many other pathogens, is not only found on hard surfaces like flooring but critically can also be transported between locations on footwear. Practically what this will mean for businesses hoping to open under reduced lockdown conditions is that in […]
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that up to 40% of food crops are lost due to plant pests and diseases annually! This leaves millions of people without enough food to eat and seriously damages agriculture – the primary source of income for rural poor communities. Climate change and human activities […]
Confirmation this week that Fall Army Worm has reached mainland Australia, and is spreading fast, is bad news for Australia and New Zealand (as it gets that much closer to us). This voracious and none-to-fussy feeder is known to attack more than 350 plant species including Maize, Wheat, and many fruits and vegetables. It’s also […]
African Swine Fever (ASF) is a viral and often fatal disease affecting domestic pigs and feral pig populations all over the world. While the virus presents no risk to humans, it is devastating to local pig populations and the commercial pork industry. Check out this info from NZ Pork with a simple overview of the […]
Congratulations to the First Fresh team in Gisborne, winners of a Jacson Cube® in our recent competition giveaway at the Horticulture NZ 2019 conference. The Cube will be used by the crop monitoring team as they travel around the Gisborne district, monitoring citrus crops for First Fresh. Here’s First Fresh’s Janine Westend trying out the […]
Congratulations to Annika and Johnny Lowe winners of the Jacson Cube® we gave away while exhibiting at the South Island field-days at the end of March. Annika is an AI Technician as well as dairy farming with partner Johhny near Rangiora. In conjunction with the giveaway we asked two simple questions – Do you currently […]
With few ‘lead by example’ stories coming out of New Zealand currently we thought this story out of Australia might encourage our producers to make a start on their own biosecurity arrangements. http://www.farmbiosecurity.com.au/biosecurity-strategy-paves-the-way-for-higher-crop-yields-and-lower-costs/