Plant pests, diseases and weed seeds can easily spread from one property to another on clothing, shoes, equipment and vehicles. Always check your shoes, clothing, hair and hats for any seeds or plant material, paying special attention to your shoes as they can easily carry contaminated soil and weed seeds.

Also do not litter. Diseases can emanate from the litter and spread around with the help of wind, rain and even the bords and animals.

Why is it necessary to keep the farm clean?
Good on-farm hygiene reduces the level of bugs and bacteria humans and animals are exposed to. Hygiene should be addressed under your herd health plan. Discuss with your vet and farm adviser what steps you can take to improve hygiene levels on your farm.

Cleaning and disinfection of people, equipment, animals and material entering a farm are important for protecting animal health.

How do you keep the cows clean?
Keeping cattle clean starts with their bedding. Nice, dry, clean bedding prevents the cattle’s coat from being covered in manure and mud. Many benefits come from clean, dry bedding as the insulation properties of the cattle’s hair coats are enhanced due to them being clean and maintained.

How can you reduce the risks?
Maintaining good on-farm biosecurity practices will help protect crops and reduces the risk of spread. Decontamination of vehicles, clothing, equipment, and machinery as well as restricting movement of people and equipment/machinery are important biosecurity measures to have in place. Other biosecurity measures include:

• display signage on your farm to alert people to the potential impact they could have entering your
  farm
• have a visitor register on your farm to track movements
• brief all workers on your biosecurity procedures
• provide cleaning materials such as scrubbing brushes, disinfection footbaths, boot covers, rubber
  boots and protective clothing such as disposable overalls to people entering your farm
• check visitor and employee footwear, clothing and equipment is free of soil and plant material
  before entering or leaving your property.

Visitors and Workers
People can unintentionally carry new pests, diseases or weeds onto your property diseases without even realising. This means anyone visiting your property including suppliers, vets, transporters, stock agents, consultants, short-term workers, researchers and contractors, is a potential biosecurity risk. There are a number of biosecurity practices you can put in place to reduce this risk:

• limit entry points to access the property – ideally there should only be one access point so that all movements can be recorded
• direct all visitors to a designated parking area by using clear signage, and ask them to report to management and sign a visitor register
• check visitors vehicles, equipment, boots and clothing to ensure they are clean and free from pests, weed seeds and plant materials
• refuse entry for any visitor who declines to clean vehicles, equipment and boots, or cannot demonstrate that their clothing is clean
• limit visitor contact with livestock, crops or plant materials and eliminate any unnecessary contact altogether
• ensure visitors disinfect hands before and after coming into contact with livestock, plant material or soil
• ensure visitors clean and disinfect equipment in-between uses on different properties
• educate your staff so they are familiar with the basic symptoms associated with a pest or disease outbreak and know how to report them.

Vehicles: It is important to maintain equipment hygiene and ensure all vehicles that visit your property are clean and well maintained. This also includes movement of your own vehicles between properties.
Vehicle access: Knowing who has entered your property allows possible sources of diseases, pests or weeds to be tracked. Limiting the number of vehicle access points to your property will also limit the
potential entry sites and allow you to monitor these areas closely.

Make sure you:

• limit the number of entry and exit points (one is preferable)
• examine each vehicle entry and exit point for the risk they pose, particularly in relation to the
  distance from livestock and crops
• display biosecurity signs, with clear instructions and contact details at all vehicle access
  points
• clearly sign and lock restricted access areas
• keep a visitor register.

Vehicle Hygiene: Vehicle tyres, undercarriages, grills, floors and trays can carry diseases, pests or weeds in soil, plant material and manure. Make sure you:

• ensure visitor vehicles are clean and are parked in a designated area away from livestock or
  crops
• establish a vehicle high pressure wash down facility well away from livestock and crops to clean your vehicles and equipment as well as others that need to enter the property
• have a sump in the wash down area to collect any waste water
• direct any run off away from livestock pens, paddocks, crops and waterways
• regularly check areas around the wash down facility for new pests or weeds
• keep an up-to-date equipment and vehicle cleaning record
• clean machinery from the top down and dismantle it as far as possible to gain access to internal spaces
• clean and disinfect all borrowed or second hand machinery before using it on your property
• follow any wash down with a broad spectrum disinfectant. This will further reduce the risk of introducing less visible threats like bacteria, viruses, and spores onto your property.

Equipment hygiene and storage
Regularly clean and disinfect all storage containers, tools and equipment, and store away from
potential contaminants.
The regular use of a suitable disinfectant is important and most effective when applied to a
visually clean surface.
Make sure surfaces to be disinfected are free from soil, manure, plant and animal residues.

Dedicated equipment for high risk areas
You can assign equipment (including tools, clothing, and footwear) for use in disease, pest and
weed affected areas. The equipment used in infected or infested areas should not be reused in
clean areas, and vice versa.
Potting and propagating facilities
Using good hygiene practices undertaken during potting and propagation will minimise the
chance of pests spreading.
The facilities and areas designated for propagation activities should be separated from
production areas. Make sure you:

• regularly wash and disinfect benches and tools used for propagation, preferably between
  each batch of soil media or plant material
• clean and disinfect potting containers before use
• collect and dispose of all spilt material and plant waste.