PHOTO: VIEWFIELD FARMS
BIOSECURITY ▶▶▶
Canada’s biosecurity: Changes and challenges
BY TREENA HEIN A
bout a decade ago, along with many other nation- al dairy associations across the developed world, Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) created the proAc- tion programme. This initiative, based on scientific
research and best practices, ensures all farms are operating at a similar level across all aspects of dairy farming, addressed in six modules. The modules Milk Quality, Food Safety, Animal Care and Tracea- bility have already been implemented by farmers from coast to coast. The biosecurity module implementation is well under- way – if not already complete – by most farmers, and the Envi- ronment module must be implemented by September 2021. Allowing farmers to integrate a module every two years, says DFC, gives them time to absorb the requirements and make changes to meet them. Every dairy farm in Canada is inde- pendently assessed on every module by various individuals, the vast majority of whom were already involved in Canada’s dairy industry before proAction. Assessors for the Food Safety module, for example, were found and trained from the exist- ing national pool of farm inspectors and advisors. Before we look at how the biosecurity module was developed and the challenges of implementation for a leading Canadian farmer, let’s delve a little more deeply into how the overarch- ing proAction programme came to be. From the start, DFC leaders were of the view that while the programme needed to have high credibility at all levels (including independent assessment), the requirements needed to be practical for farmers, and farmers also needed to see clear benefits of par- ticipation. Farmers were therefore consulted from the very beginning in various ways for the programme’s development, including meetings in all provinces to gather farmer feed- back. Along with various industry experts, farmers also sit on the overall ProAction committee as well as the committee (and subcommittees) for each module. After independent verification of how they did or did not meet each module’s requirements, farmers are given their re- sults. They are compared to their peers and, if needed, given acceptable time to take corrective action on any require- ments needing attention. All of the proAction modules are also subject to periodic updates, as “landscapes” for disease, environmental issues and more evolve.
It’s been a few months since all Canadian dairy farmers had to begin implementing the biosecurity module of the national proAction programme. We look at how this module was developed and what one leading farmer found most challenging in putting its requirements in place.
Module development The focus of the biosecurity module is obviously on manag- ing risks and preventing the introduction of disease into, and its spread within, Canadian dairy cattle herds. “The underly- ing premise behind [this] module is the old adage that ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’,” adds David Wiens, DFC vice president and chair of DFC’s proAction com- mittee. The requirements are very much based on the Nation- al Biosecurity Standard for Dairy Farms, a detailed document produced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The mod- ule was piloted on a farm, revised and then released for train- ing purposes in 2018. As part of this module, farmers must complete a biosecurity risk assessment questionnaire with their herd veterinarian every two years. They must also document and implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) related to biosecurity. “Examples of these new standards range from addressing the
The family at Viewfield Farms – from left to right – Will and Heather Taylor, parents Joseph and Jeanette Taylor and Lisa and Dave Taylor.
▶DAIRY GLOBAL | Volume 7, No. 2, 2020
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