Key messages for vegetable farmers

• Clear gate signage, a single-entry point and a sign in process for visitors helps protect your farming operations from biosecurity risks
• Compliance with farm biosecurity practices can be a challenge for farmers. Biosecurity is everyone’s responsibility. Do you make sure to check procedures when you visit a farm property?
• If you see an unusual pest you can report it to the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline (1800 084 881). Biosecurity Tasmania will work with farmers to identify the pest and Respond accordingly.

Last September 2024 vegetable farmers, field staff and service providers came together in Ulverstone, Tasmania, to discuss how to recognise critical pathways by which pests, pathogens and weeds can enter farms.  The workshop helped participants to identify simple, practical options for mitigating the risks posed by these pathways.  There was also the opportunity to try out the Onside app, a digital platform, to map farms and record visitor movements. It is a useful tool to easily maintain key biosecurity practices.  The Onside app is currently available for free to vegetable farmers through VegWatch.

The event, held in Ulverstone, kicked off with a panel discussion featuring farmers who talked about their biosecurity experiences. These included being impacted by a new pest arriving in Tasmania and how this can affect the movement of produce. It covered compliance challenges that arise when trying to implement good practices on farm, as well as measures currently used by some farmers to simplify the introduction of good practices.

Tomato farmer Anthony Brandsema (J&A Brandsema) was affected by the 2018 outbreak of Queensland fruit fly in northern Tasmania.  The farm was located close to the exclusion zone which meant that tomatoes needed to be cold stored or fumigated before being sent to market.  Tomatoes continue to ripen in cold storage, so this requirement was not an ideal option. In Anthony’s case, fruit was even sent to Melbourne for fumigation before being returned to Tasmania. This is a costly undertaking for any business and can be detrimental to fruit quality and shelf-life.  Anthony highlighted the need to have a biosecurity plan in place and implement it for when these unexpected events happen,

“Put up your hand and say that there is something that needs to change on your property.”

Some farmers have made that change and taken steps to implementing good practices on their farm. For example, Angus Galloway shared that Simplot regularly washes down machinery during harvest periods to reduce the risk of weeds (e.g. oxalis, herbicide resistant ryegrass) and soilborne diseases from spreading between farms. In some cases, where paddocks are heavily infested with weeds, they may not be harvested at all.  The Simplot site also requires visitors to sign in to the plant and abide by rules provided.  This approach can sometimes be challenging for smaller businesses. However, technology solutions like the Onside app can help making managing visitors easier – and a pressure washer to clean machinery can go a long way.

Michael Nichols of Redbank Farms, uses Onside to manage visitors and biosecurity practices.  Visitors are one of the key pathways by which pests, pathogens and weeds may enter a farm property.  One of the common challenges identified during the workshop is the number of entrances to a farm property and the number of visitors – contractors, agronomists, field staff – that might come on any given day, particularly for mixed farming businesses that are contract growing. They do not always enter via the main entrance so that a manual sign in process does not work. The Onside QR code can be installed at each farm entry point and automated sign in is also and option.

The Onside app provides Michael with confidence of knowing who is on the farm and where at any given time. It also provides contact information if he needs to contact them.  Upon check-in, visitors are also presented with a farm map that alerts them to biosecurity, environmental and operational needs and rules. Michael says getting visitors to use the app is one of the biggest challenges and a cultural shift is needed.

It is essential that ALL people coming onto a farm contribute to good biosecurity practices. If you are reading this and are an agronomist or field officer, do you let farmers know that you are coming? Do you sign in? What do you do to ensure that you are not introducing or spreading weeds, pests and diseases?  Many vegetable crops, and non-vegetable, crops in Tasmania are grown under contract or land-lease agreements.  This means many people and equipment come and go between farms.

Dr Susanna Driessen, Chief Plant Protection Officer for Tasmania also participated in the panel discussion.  Susanna and her team at Biosecurity Tasmania become involved in emergency responses if a new pest arrives in Tasmania and other regions of Australia. She reminded everyone of the importance of monitoring, record keeping reporting usual pests, weeds or diseases to Biosecurity Tasmania (1800 084 881 – add it to your contact list now).  When a suspect pest is reported, Biosecurity Tasmania may ask for photos or facilitate sample collection to support accurate diagnosis of the suspect pest, pathogen or weed.  In many cases, when a new pest is confirmed, the farm and an area around may be quarantined to contain the pest and preserve the opportunity to eradicate while tracing and monitoring is undertaken to determine how far the pest may have spread.  AUSVEG, through the VegWatch program, is exploring the potential for visitor movement data to support tracing in a Response and speed up the decision-making processes on eradication or other responses. The speed of decision making and communication with farm business owners is often criticized for being slow.

Couldn’t make it? You can find out more about what you missed here:

• VegWatch, the vegetable industry program funded through Hort Innovation using farmer levies
• Opportunity to connect to Onside through VegWatch:
• AUSVEG Farm biosecurity risk pathways
• AUSVEG Farm biosecurity planning
• Tasmanian Women in Agriculture
• Resilient Agriculture – Tasmania

This workshop was a joint event organised by Resilient Farming Tasmania, Tasmanian Women in Agriculture, and AUSVEG.  Thanks to Ossie Lang (VegNet Tas) for organising farmer visits ahead of the workshop.

The Farm Business Resilience Program is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and the Tasmanian Government’s Rural Business Resilience Package. delivered by RMCG and Optimum Standard (https://www.tasfarmingfutures.com.au/resilient-farming-tas). The Vegetable Industry Biosecurity and Business Continuity Strategy (VG22004) is funded by Hort Innovation using the vegetable research and development levy and funds from the Australian Government and managed by AUSVEG. For more information on the fund and strategic levy investment visit horticulture.com.au.

QR codes and digital technologies can simplify the visitor sign in process on farms. You can scan this code to find out more about connecting to Onside for free as part of the VegWatch, the vegetable industry biosecurity program led by AUSVEG.