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APRIL 2015 | JOANNE EISEMANN

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THERE WILL be a wide range of significant livestock pests and diseases in the spotlight at a series of workshops in Tasmania; from drench resistant worms to footrot, Bovine Johne’s Disease (BJD) and pestivirus.

The Sheep and Cattle Health and Biosecurity Workshops are being held throughout the state in March and April. Local vets will present technical detail on a range of pests and diseases including their recognition, spread, impact and management.

Tasmanian Regional Officer, Dr Jess Coad, will lead a group discussion on effective biosecurity practices.

“This is all about managing serious pests and diseases that can have a significant impact on farm productivity, and therefore profitability.

“Importantly, attendees will also learn how good farm biosecurity management practices can be used to stop these pests and diseases becoming a problem in the first place – after all, prevention is better than cure”,

Dr Coad explains. The wide range of biosecurity tools available from Livestock Biosecurity Network (LBN) that assist livestock producers in prevention, management and eradication of pests and diseases will be outlined in-depth by Dr Coad.

“There will be important lessons for all attendees – for example, we’ll discuss simple on-farm quarantine practices when introducing new livestock and the importance of knowing what signs of pests and diseases to be keeping an eye out for”, Dr Coad says.

The workshops are being delivered by LBN in collaboration with the ‘Making More from Sheep’ and ‘More Beef from Pastures’ programs.

They will run for three hours from 1pm at the following locations:

Tuesday 21st April – Smithton

Wednesday 22nd April – Campbell Town

Thursday 28th April – Sassafras

For more information on these workshops and LBN contact LBN Regional Officer, Dr Jess Coad on 0488 400 209 or email jcoad@lbn.org.au.

The importance of LBN organising these events aligns with the organisation’s role to improve the knowledge and understanding of animal health, welfare and biosecurity among key stakeholders.

While livestock producers are a key target for LBN information, the organisation also participates in a national network of government and industry partners helping protect livestock industries from emergency animal disease.

To help protect their livelihood and income, producers are encouraged to complete the Farm Biosecurity Checklist at www.lbn.org.au.