Sourcing information about protecting farms from diseases, pests and weeds just became easier, with the launch of the new Farm Biosecurity website.

The website is a product of the Farm Biosecurity Program, a joint initiative of Animal Health Australia (AHA) and Plant Health Australia (PHA).

Launched as part of the 2019 Australian Biosecurity Symposium, a key feature of the new website is the ‘Six Essentials’ – the core principles that underpin on-farm biosecurity across plant and livestock sectors, as well as templates and resources for implementing those principles on your property.

The Six Essentials are:

  1. Farm inputs
  2. Farm outputs
  3. Ferals and weeds
  4. People, vehicles and equipment
  5. Production practices
  6. Train, plan and record

Producers also have access to a range of information specific to their enterprise and production systems, via the ‘Crops’ menu, including in-depth manuals on how to apply the Six Essentials to their operations.

A core function of the site is the Farm Biosecurity Toolkit, which enables producers to select the make-up of their enterprise and production system, before bringing all of the relevant resources onto one page for easy access.

“This is a good resource for vineyard owners, and we encourage you to explore how this site can help protect your business from a biosecurity shock,” said Vinehealth Australia CEO Inca Pearce.

During the next year, Vinehealth plans to use the Farm Biosecurity Toolkit information as a base from which to produce a more tailored Biosecurity Toolkit for the wine and grape industries.