Agriculture Victoria will provide farmers with a series of free online learning modules to assist them in securing their livestock from infections and biosecurity risks.
Agriculture Victoria Animal Disease Program Coordinator Scott McDonald said the highly beneficial training would better provide farmers, livestock procedures, small landholders, industry workers, and farm visitors with the skills and knowledge needed to guarantee a secure and disease-free environment for livestock.
“These in-demand online modules explore the impacts that emergency animal diseases would have on our farming industry and how the risks can be reduced. Biosecurity is everyone’s responsibility and implementing good practices on your property and ensuring visitors follow those practices is key to preventing serious consequences for our animals, trade, and economy,” McDonald stated.
According to McDonald, Agriculture Victoria want to reassure farmers that they are taking all the necessary precautions to safeguard their livestock against dangerous diseases like foot-and-mouth and lumpy skin disease, as well as Victoria and Australia as a whole.
The three learning modules —lumpy skin disease awareness, foot and mouth disease awareness, and Come clean, stay clean, go clean— when visiting farms — are now accessible through Agriculture Victoria’s website. It should take about 15 minutes to complete each module.
Agriculture Victoria said although lumpy skin disease and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks have not yet reached Australia, they are becoming more of a danger.
An extensive multistate FMD outbreak might cost Australia $80 billion over the course of ten years, according to modelling done by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) in 2013.
“Foot-and-mouth disease is considered one of Australia’s greatest biosecurity risks, so it is vital livestock owners or people working with livestock take the appropriate biosecurity actions now,” McDonald said.
McDonald added that the Victorian agricultural sector is stronger than ever and Agriculture Victoria would like to maintain it. He urges everyone to log on and finish the series of learning modules.
