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Biosecurity Watch Biosecurity doesn’t stop with harvest JIM HERDMAN
THERE IS a change in the season, and we are moving into pruning. Now that harvest is over and most of you will have had time to take a breath, it is a good time to think about vineyard biosecurity and undertake some planning to ensure your vines are protected as much as possible from an unwanted incursion of pests or disease. Good biosecurity practice also contributes to your ongoing disease and pest management programmes. We are also still seeing the devastating effects of Covid-19 as it spreads around the world, and can already take many lessons learned from this disaster and apply them in a biosecurity context. The biggest lesson learned is to be prepared and not to be complacent don’t think that it can’t happen to you or your industry. Having good plans in place and acting early is essential in preventing or combating a biosecurity incursion. It is also about a collective team effort - not only protecting your assets and livelihood, but also protecting your neighbours and your region’s profitability, jobs, and community. Some of the key steps to effective biosecurity planning are as follows: • Promote vineyard biosecurity to ensure your staff and contractors are trained, engaged and know what to look for. Install appropriate
signage and make awareness material available. Make biosecurity an agenda item at team meetings, and use the resources available from New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). Encourage staff to get involved and ask questions. • Manage your visitors and restrict access to designated carparks and areas necessary to the purpose of their visit. Brief them on expected biosecurity risk management procedures - you can even include this with a health and safety briefing. You should include a signin procedure and undertake any mitigation procedures that may be necessary like cleaning gear and equipment. Make staff and visitors feel like health and safety and biosecurity are business as usual and not an imposition. The more people get used to the process the more they will come to expect it, and the safer your asset will be as a consequence of increased awareness. • Put in place a vehicle management system that takes into consideration biosecurity risk. Keep records and ensure you know where vehicles and machinery have been before they arrive in your vineyard. Inspect and thoroughly clean them. Seek assurance from your suppliers that
new machinery is clean and has been treated if sourced from overseas. Good cleaning and maintenance schedules not only protect your vineyards, they also take care of your capital assets and make them more cost-effective in the long term. • Install and maintain a wash-down facility that is accessible before entering the vines. Ideally, a washdown facility should be situated on a concrete pad and the runoff should be controlled into a sump. A highpressure wash-down hose should be available along with a water blaster, steam cleaner and compressed air if possible, to ensure thorough cleaning practices occur. • Check tools and equipment and see to it that they are well maintained, cleaned and sanitised. Put in place work practices that reduce the chance of spreading pests and diseases around the vineyard or into other vineyards. Once again, good maintenance practices not only have a biosecurity outcome but may also result in increased productivity and reduced costs. • Think about vineyard surveillance and develop a year-long programme that not only monitors pests and diseases that are present, but also makes staff aware of the potential risks of exotic organisms. It is
IF YOU SEE ANYTHING UNUSUAL
CATCH IT . SNAP IT . REPORT IT . Call MPI biosecurity hotline 0800 80 99 66 24 / Winepress May 2020
