Biosecurity concerns in focus at Wandoan Field Day

Monday, 23 Mar 2015

AgForce Projects will bring together representatives from the Livestock Biosecurity Network (LBN), the Grazing Best Management Practices (BMP) program and the Coal Seam Gas (CSG) Compliance Unit for a Biosecurity Field Day in Wandoan on April 14.

AgForce Projects CSG Project Leader Daniel Phipps said biosecurity has become a significant concern for landholders, partly due to the increase in coal seam gas activities occurring on property and it was important to bring together organisations and projects to help landholders deal with these issues holistically.

"Landholders that have CSG activity occurring on property will find the field day particularly useful because it links LBN, the Grazing BMP program and the CSG Compliance Unit together with the AgForce CSG Project to show how producers can mitigate potential biosecurity breaches while maximising positive negotiation outcomes with CSG companies."

LBN will provide free record-keeping templates on the day as well as an overview of animal health management and managing weed introduction and spread.

LBN Regional Officer Corrie Grimmett said biosecurity plays a crucial role in the productivity of an enterprise, and it is in farmers' best interests to know what can be done to keep potential hazards to a minimum.

''Biosecurity is any activity that is undertaken on your farm to prevent the introduction and spread of livestock diseases, pests and weeds and it's always important to safeguard your property from anything that can impede on your business productivity and profitability."

Mr Phipps said the Grazing BMP program is an online self-assessment program which encourages producers to gather baseline data and benchmarks participant's property's against industry standard.

"Grazing BMP requires producers to gather baseline data on their property such as soil health, pest and weed spread then benchmarks the results against industry standard. It's important for landholders to have documented property data pre-development and it can be beneficial moving into negotiations with a resource company."

The CSG Compliance Unit will also present on the day, providing information on where landholders can get assistance when breaches occur and the role of government in regulating and enforcing CCA conditions.

The Wandoan CSG and Biosecurity Field Day is free for all landholders and runs from 8.30am to 4pm on Tuesday 14 April.

For more information or to register visit www.agforceprojects.org.au

AgForce Projects CSG Project is delivered free with the support of the Queensland Government, the GasFields Commission Queensland, the Queensland Resources Council and Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.