Biosecurity plans required

Livestock producers seeking accreditation or reaccreditation under the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program must now create or upload an On-farm Biosecurity Management Plan for every property linked to…

Livestock producers seeking accreditation or reaccreditation under the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program must now create or upload an On-farm Biosecurity Management Plan for every property linked to their account.

Agriculture Victoria dairy industry development officer Richard Smith emphasised that recent changes to the LPA program make the completion of a biosecurity plan an essential requirement for ongoing accreditation."A biosecurity management plan is a practical way to show how you are preventing pests, diseases, weeds, and contaminants from entering your property, as well as preventing their spread around or off your land," Mr Smith said.

The management plan helps define producer responsibilities, outlines property-specific disease protocols, and ensures vital biosecurity information remains quickly accessible during potential biosecurity incursions. To assist producers in developing compliant plans, several agricultural organisations have published online templates ranging from industry-specific tools to general frameworks. Mr Smith advised producers to tailor these templates to reflect their individual operational risks, adding that peak industry bodies remain one of the best resources for biosecurity planning guidance.

Planning resources and biosecurity templates are accessible through several key agricultural portals:- Agriculture Victoria: Comprehensive farm biosecurity planning resources and templates are available at agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity.- Animal Health Australia: Property-specific biosecurity guidance can be accessed at farmbiosecurity.com.au.- Integrity Systems (LPA): Biosecurity plans can be completed directly through the online LPA Learning module or downloaded at integritysystems.com.au.

Producers are reminded that a biosecurity management plan should function as a living document, reviewed and updated regularly to reflect land purchases, operational changes, management updates, or local disease, pest, and weed threats. The post Biosecurity plans required first appeared on Snowy River Mail.