Biosecurity starts at the farm gate
Waikato farmers are being urged to take more responsibility for their biosecurity.
They can improve it by creating a biosecurity plan to better control movements inside and outside the farmgate, according to Foundation for Arable Research chief executive Nick Pyke.
Biosecurity at a farm level was often forgotten, he told farmers at a field day at FAR's northern crop research site at Tamahere.
The Government prosecuted people found to be breaking the rules around biosecurity.
"But I have yet to find a farmer who will penalise me for walking in with my dirty boots full of seeds, and they should do."
The key risk for maize was a glysophate-resistant weed entering the country. Other weeds such as marmorated stink bug, corn smut, and downy mildew were pests that could seriously damage New Zealand's cropping industry, so they needed to be kept out.
No comments:
Post a Comment