Vinehealth CEO Inca Lee and Technical Manager Suzanne McLoughlin were invited to Padthaway earlier this month to deliver an interactive two-hour vintage biosecurity session to 16 members of the Padthaway wine region, as a follow up to one of our recent regional industry consultation visits for our funding review.
This ‘practical guide to pre-vintage biosecurity’ was an opportunity to discuss and share ideas on how a business can identify the appropriate set of biosecurity measures to adopt for their unique situation using the following step-wise approach:
- Quantify what’s at risk for your business.
- Understand the impact on your business of a loss of business continuity resulting from a significant pest incursion:
- Including movement restrictions, increased operational costs and time, asset and staff management, requests for tracing records, loss of vine material and revision of marketing materials.
- Know the pest/disease/pathogen/weed threats:
- Including what to look for, where to look, when to look, how threats are moved, and how to report something unusual.
- Know the key vectors for pest/disease/pathogen/weed entry:
- Including that people can move these on footwear, clothing and vehicles, and that people are also responsible for decision making and setting the standards for expected behaviours.
- Assess and implement risk mitigation strategies appropriate to your business and regional needs.
