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The Farm Services biosecurity plan for non-supply-managed industries, contained in the following document, was requested by the Ontario Agricultural Commodity Council Red Meat R&D Subcommittee. eBiz Professionals Inc. was asked to provide a proposal to develop the plan, in recognition of the work which has previously been completed in the Poultry industries in Ontario. That proposal was accepted, and this report, and the Plan contained within it, are the result of that assignment

A strategy to address the biosecurity practices of Ontario livestock farm service providers is urgently needed. This group has been identified as a gap in the industries’ barriers to disease transmission in disease simulations operated by the Ontario Livestock and Poultry Council, and in this study.

The Purpose of the project was to develop a plan for the establishment of biosecurity protocols for the Farm Services which serve the following eight livestock industries:

Goat	Veal
Beef	Pork
Sheep	Non-Dairy
Deer & Elk	Ratites

From the investigation undertaken by the project team, twenty-four farm services were identified as active among these livestock industries:

Barn Cleaners	Bedding Suppliers
Board Inspectors	Breeders
Catching Crews	Commodity Buyers
Dead Stock and Rendering	Drivers
Equipment Sales/Service	Feed Suppliers
Fuel Suppliers – Home	Fuel Suppliers – Barn
Hoof Trimmers	Live Haul Truckers
Manure Managers	Milk Inspectors
Municipal Employees	Private Purchasers
Processor Sales/Service	Provincial/Federal Employees
Veterinarians/Vet Service	Visitors/Neighbours/Friends
Hatcheries	Off-premise activities (Shows, Fairs, etc.)

In several cases, it was determined that individual Farm Services could be combined into groups with similar biosecurity requirements across livestock sectors, and that similarly, several livestock industries could be combined. These opportunities provide reductions in time and costs for the development of a biosecurity program.

The work undertaken successfully for the Poultry industries in Ontario provided both a methodology for the Plan and templates for SOPs. These poultry protocols and related information are available for review on www.agbiosecurity.ca. The project team and participants in that project completed biosecurity protocols which could be used and adapted for use in the subject livestock industries, and their farm services providers.

In order to demonstrate the applicability of the methodology and templates developed in that earlier program, four new SOPs have been developed during the design of the Plan, as a proof-of-concept. These SOPs were generated with the help of industry working groups and review teams, as is proposed for the go-forward Plan, and are presented in these documents.

The Plan has six steps, which are proposed to be carried out over three years

1. Awareness and Buy-in

• Preparation of a funding proposal(s) for the execution of the Plan and the establishment of the infrastructure required to manage it, including the activities of a program Steering Committee
• Establishment of an incorporated, not-for-profit association of Farm Services to focus, manage and maintain the biosecurity program(s),and related activities, preferably operating within an existing organization, such as OLPC

• Establishment of Working Groups of farm services practitioners to adapt and/or develop biosecurity protocols for their services for all subject livestock industries
• Integration of Farm Services SOPs with OFFSAP and other farm-level programs

• Documentation and testing of training programs and materials for each service, working in each industry
• Pilots and trials in each segment to demonstrate and prove the program elements
• “Classroom” training and on-line information availability for all services in all industries

• Establish a certification process and a third-party auditing program to ensure ongoing adherence to the biosecurity program(s)
• Design and implement an independent data management facility to maintain participation and certification information for participants and their supply-chain partners

• Establish a procedure, managed and executed by the Farm Services Association, for the ongoing maintenance and improvement of the biosecurity program(s)

Program timing is illustrated in the following figure:

The sequence and duration of each activity in the Plan has been recommended in the detailed description in the following document, based on the project team’s analysis of current readiness, priority for action, and the application of three types of SOP development.

The costs associated with the establishment and implementation of the Farm Services Biosecurity program are estimated to total approximately $3.0 million for the full three-year plan, as detailed in the following table:

Program Steps	Program Elements	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Total
1. Awareness and Buy-In		$25,000	$15,000	$15,000	$55,000
2. Infrastructure and Funding	Funding Proposal	$15,000			$15,000
	Association	$139,000	$204,000	$204,000	$547,000
3. Preparation of Protocols	Coordination with On-Farm	$48,000	$36,000	$36,000	$120,000
	Protocol Development	$90,250	$226,750	$232,000	$549,000
4. Implementation	Documentation and Testing	$12,500	$50,000	$50,000	$112,500
	Pilots and Trials		$50,000	$50,000	$100,000
	Training and Information	$50,000	$100,000	$100,000	$250,000
5. Certification and Information Management	Certification and Audit Program		$450,000	$650,000	$1,100,000
	Data Management Facility		$25,000	$50,000	$75,000
6. Program Maintenance			$25,000	$50,000	$75,000
Totals		$379,750	$1,181,750	$1,437,000	$2,998,500

Program risks are anticipated to be limited in number, but significant:

1. Committed funding for all aspects of the Plan will be needed at the outset. Individual funding programs which are currently in place at both the Federal and Provincial levels, do not appear to provide for all of the elements of the Plan.

Many Farm Services organizations work at the fringes of the industry, and are neither organized, nor sufficiently profitable to support the costs of development and implementation of their programs. Producers, and producer groups, while they are partners with the services industry, are not prepared to absorb these costs. Therefore, government funding for all or a large part of the costs of development and implementation, will be required.

One of the first requirements of the Plan is to prepare a comprehensive funding proposal, using this document and the information contained within it as structure and rationale. To address the funding risk, the preparation of such a proposal will need to be taken on with the involvement and support of the industries and services affected. The proposal will incorporate the establishment of a self-sustaining model for the longer term, as the logical outgrowth of the request for funding for these important transitional activities.

2. Participation in the programs by Farm Services organizations is a key factor for success. While earlier experience indicates that a few participants can be expected to adopt their biosecurity program(s) voluntarily, the vast majority will need to be encouraged by one of two factors:

2.1. The demand, by the producers whom they serve, for their participation in a biosecurity program which they, or their industry association, recognize as sufficient for their on-farm needs. The possibility of insurance against disease losses would also provide this impetus; or

2.2. The establishment of a legislated requirement for their participation. Fortunately, there have been successful implementations of programs of a similar nature in the Canadian poultry and livestock industries – the implementation of OFFSAP programs in poultry, for example – which can provide guidance and best practices for this program. Internationally, especially in Europe, successful models have also been developed.

3. Experienced resources will be needed to provide for the speed of execution required by the sponsors of the Plan. In all, ninety-five individual service/commodity SOPs will need to be developed; and pilot, testing and training programs designed for their implementation. Certification programs need to be designed and published.

The expertise and experience which the project team members and additional eBiz associates have amassed during this and previous assignments, can be made available among suitable other organizations – such as training organizations with experience in agriculture programs, and certification organizations with existing on-farm programs. By structuring an implementation network under experienced leadership and management, both knowledge and resources can be leveraged to provide for the size and complexity of the Plan.

Deliverables for this assignment include the outline of a Communications program to be employed in step one of the Plan. In fact, it will be instituted following acceptance of this report; its first goal will be to inform government and industry stakeholders about the details and dimensions of the Plan. The Plan contained in this document will be reviewed with the Ontario Livestock and Poultry Council (OLPC), interested commodity groups, and the Canadian Animal Health Coalition, in combined and individual industry meetings. The new Office of Animal Biosecurity at the CFIA will also be connected to the activity as will OMAFRA.

The project team is pleased to have been asked to prepare this Plan, and look forward to the opportunity to review its contents with representatives of the Livestock and Farm Services industry.

Ian Richardson, President
eBiz Professionals Inc.

Download the complete report as a pdf