Update on FMD Ready’s Dairy Sub-Project 2 Innovation Pilot

The FMD Ready Project’s Dairy Innovation Pilot group met for the 8th time on Wednesday 2 September, the 2nd virtual meeting since COVID-19 restrictions were put in place. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened society’s awareness of the importance of strong biosecurity practices and early detection of disease outbreaks – a topic that the group have been addressing for emergency animal diseases in the last three years. The group discussed finalising a draft article on the cost of a potential FMD outbreak, the importance of on-farm biosecurity and early reporting to detect and respond effectively should an outbreak occur. They also spoke about a flyer on the how and why of animal ear tags and animal traceability for small holders in the region. 

As the FMD Ready project will be concluding at the end of this year the group also had a discussion with Dairy Australia on the sustainability of the group. Find out more here.