Competitiveness obtained through biosafety at the livestock sector farms

The animal disease situation in Finland is internationally at a good level, but the maintenance requires development of the disease control on farms. Increasing farm size and more specialized production will increase animal and other traffic between farms thus increasing the likelihood of outbreaks with economic consequences. Increased risks require greater input of producers in the field of biosafety i.e. internal and external disease control. Inadequate biosecurity is a cost risk reflected through increased prevalence of animal diseases and weakened competitiveness.

The aim of the project is to:
1) improve the animal health risk management at bovine, porcine and poultry farms; and
2) to promote a competitive Finnish livestock production as widely as possible in the project area.
In the information exchange the latest information on disease control measures including their costs and benefits are used. Through available communication means producers will be motivated to improve the disease control. The target area of the project is livestock farms and their stakeholders in the provinces of South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia and Ostrobothnia.

The project will gather information on the benefits, disadvantages and practical implementation of the biosecurity measures. The project consists of five workpackages:
1) Correct use of the safety barrier and protective clothing in animal shelters,
2) Logistics in the livestock farm, in both the clean and the dirty part, control and planning of traffic on the farm in the field of disease protection,
3) Stowage and disposal of animal carcasses,
4) Feed hygiene, e.g. prevention of pests in feed storage and
5) Cleaning and disinfection of animal shelters.

The results obtained in previous projects are exploited to avoid duplication. Information is communicated to target audience through seminars, webinars, small group meetings and biosecurity workshops as well as the produced material (e.g. videos, guidelines) in the project. Information about the results will be given in magazines and journals in the project area.