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 […]
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/
I want to relate a true story. A couple of weeks ago we met a South Island dairy farmer that had been caught up in the M. Bovis response. We spoke about what this had meant for him and his business – none of it good other than that he was now able to get […]
“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. ” […]
Until you’ve been directly impacted by a biosecurity incursion its easy enough to downplay the very real, and often far reaching, consequences of an outbreak of disease or a pest infestation. This story, posted in the December 2018 Australian Farm biosecurity newsletter details the experiences of one Western Australian Potato grower. Its a familiar story, […]