March 27, 2013, Ottawa: A new national biosecurity standard was released today that will help Canadian goat producers keep their animals and industry healthy.
“This tool was developed with industry, for industry, to improve animal health on-farm,” said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. “Goat producers can use the Standard to enhance their disease prevention methods and this will benefit their business and the overall industry.”
“The implementation of on-farm biosecurity is a cornerstone to managing the risk of animal disease in Canadian goat herds,” said Canadian National Goat Federation President Myrna Coombs. “Keeping our herds disease-free is an important part of ensuring our producers are profitable and competitive.”
The National Standard is a voluntary educational tool that provides a series of management practices designed to help producers minimize and control the risk of disease entering their farms, or spreading within the farm and to neighbouring farms.
The Standard focuses on six key areas to minimize the risk of disease transmission on-farm:
Sourcing and introducing animals
Animal health
Facility management
Movement of people, vehicles and equipment
Monitoring and record keeping
Communications and training
The National Farm-Level Biosecurity Standard for the Goat Industry was developed over two years through a partnership between the Canadian National Goat Federation (CNGF) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), in collaboration with producers, academia, and provincial governments. Funding was provided by the Growing Forward policy initiative of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It was designed specifically for the Canadian goat industry, and is applicable to farm operations of all types and sizes.
