Canadian Beef Cattle On-Farm Biosecurity Standard

Principle 4: Educate, Plan, Record

What should be done? Personnel working with/or in contact with beef cattle operations should be aware of and understand the importance of the following:

  • biosecurity in their operation and the industry;
  • the biosecurity plan for their operation and protocols for tasks within the operation for which they are responsible;
  • knowing what action to take in typical and unusual animal health situations; and
  • which basic records to maintain on an ongoing basis.

Why are education, planning, and record-keeping important to biosecurity? Biosecurity is important to individual beef cattle producers for its role in managing endemic diseases, such as infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), and scours. Any one of these diseases introduced to a herd will severely erode the profitability of any operation.

Biosecurity is also important to individual producers and the industry as a whole for its role in managing emerging or new diseases, and re-emerging or pre-existing diseases returning often in a different or more virulent form.

And finally, biosecurity is critically important to the industry as a whole for its role in controlling the potential spread of foreign animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

When producers are aware of the importance of biosecurity and the potential disease risks, they can take appropriate action to enhance biosecurity within their operation and their industry. Planning and record-keeping are two important activities that enhance on-farm biosecurity. Planning assists producers in responding to the range of risks that potentially exist – those that are typical in the operation (high probability) and those that are unusual (low probability), but possibly with high consequence. Record-keeping helps producers evaluate and improve their plans and is critical in controlling an outbreak.

Target outcomes for education, planning and record keeping – The following actions support effective training, planning and record-keeping.

4.1 Ensure That Personnel Understand How and Why Biosecurity Is Applied on Their Operation

Personnel, namely owners, managers, staff, and family members, should receive training on biosecurity measures that apply to the operation as a whole, and their role. Additional training should be provided when new procedures are introduced or roles change. Managers and owners should also review the application of biosecurity practices with personnel and visitors to identify changes where necessary.

4.2 Develop, Document, and Maintain a Biosecurity Plan Specific to the Needs of the Operation

Producers have typically documented a biosecurity plan for their operation. A biosecurity plan should address the following key areas, with current practices documented in simple written protocols:

  • sanitation;
  • incoming animals;
  • deadstock and manure disposal; and
  • initial disease response and high-risk biosecurity.

Throughout this Standard, the emphasis is on the actual carrying out of effective biosecurity practices, rather than documenting it in protocols. That said, there is significant value in thinking through present biosecurity practices, evaluating for effectiveness in minimizing or preventing known or potential disease risks, documenting for training and consistent application by all personnel within the operation, and evaluating regularly to identify necessary changes or improvements.

4.3 Ensure That Personnel Know How to Respond to the Range of Animal Health Situations Typical of the Operation

Identify the typical animal health situations for the operation by considering those that have already occurred within the operation and in the area, together with those that might occur. These would include the range of diseases that are managed and are present in the herd or its environment periodically or on an ongoing basis (e.g. IBR, BVD, Johne's Disease, scours).

Standardized approaches that have been prepared for specific situations can be effectively communicated, consistently applied, and evaluated over time to determine their effectiveness. Such approaches need not be highly detailed; however, they should identify those indicators of common situations, the outcomes desired for each, and suggested responses.

4.4 Ensure That Personnel Know How to Respond to an Unusual Animal Health Situation

High rates of disease or death signal an unusual animal health situation. By definition, unusual animal health situations are infrequent or low-probability events, though they may have significant consequences to both the operation and the industry at large.

Personnel throughout the operation must know how to distinguish unusually high levels of disease or death, and be aware of their own roles and appropriate responses. The situation could involve an endemic disease, an emerging or re-emerging disease, or even a FAD.

An appropriate response to an unusual animal health situation includes these elements:

  • defined triggers – events that signify an unusual animal health situation (e.g. high rate of disease);
  • initial response – the limited number of key actions or decisions to undertake initially (e.g. telephone the operation's veterinarian); and
  • a high-risk biosecurity plan – the practices that are appropriate to the conditions of unusually high levels of disease or death (e.g. minimal or no contact with livestock of other operations).

4.5 Maintain Ongoing Records for Animal Health Management

Certain records should be maintained on an ongoing basis on most beef cattle operations:

  • records of all visitors accessing the production area or, in some cases, the farmyard;
  • records of all movements, involving comingling, purchases, and sales;
  • records of all treatments of individual animals and vaccinations, generally on a broader or herd application basis; and
  • records of feed purchases and dispositions or use.

These records can provide information about the order of events and the possible changes over time that may be critical in identifying either a typical or an unusual animal health situation, and in effectively managing the response.

If a typical animal health situation were to occur, these records might assist the producer and veterinarian in identifying a mode of transmission and in recommending adjusted practices to avoid similar circumstances in the future.

If an unusual animal health situation, such as a FAD outbreak, were to occur, these records would be critical in identifying potentially exposed herds, method of exposure, and mode of transmission. This knowledge would increase the ability of disease control personnel and producers to successfully contain FAD outbreaks.

While many of these records could have their greatest potential value if they referred or were cross-linked to individual animal identification, it is understood that the industry's use of both identification and traceability is evolving. Accordingly, the degree to which individual animal identification numbers are referenced will vary.

The use and value of records vary with the type of operation. Feed records, in particular, may be more applicable to feedlots buying large quantities of feed than cow-calf operations that pasture cattle or produce their own hay and grain. Similarly, the use of visitor logs to record farmyard access applies more to feedlots than to cow-calf operations.

There are also exceptions to the use of records on certain operations or in specific circumstances. For instance, it may be difficult to obtain all entries for a visitor log in certain range- or pasture-based operations where people can and do enter the production area without permission.

The benefits derived from the time and effort taken to ensure effective record keeping include the following:

  • more consistent control throughout the operation by ensuring that practices, medications, etc. are managed as desired and according to a plan that is intended to minimize disease; and
  • the ability to conduct regular and/or "after the fact" reviews that can assist in identifying important disease control information, such as the potential cause of disease or additional "at risk" operations or animals.

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