Development of a biosecurity certification program for dairy farms

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Biosecurity refers to a set of practices to prevent the introduction and to control the spreading of farm animal diseases that aim to promote animal health. Also, biosecurity is related to One Health. Promoting animal health can aid in reducing antibiotic usage with positive impact on environment and residue reduction. Biosecurity adoption can be reinforced by the development of protocols with defined application field and operational procedures to avoid pathogen circulation in different dairy farm sectors. The objective of this study was to develop a biosecurity protool for dairy farms and to implemente a biosecurity certification program in dairy farms. For this purpose, a certification protocol was developed with necessary documents: descriptive memorial, operational protocol and check-list. The second phase was the application of the certification protocol to fullfill a certification program. Two dairy farms, representative of confined or pasture-based systems were selected to implement the protocol. During implementation, necessary adjustments were made on the protocol according to real-life situations. The certification program was applied and validated in the two farms and is available for general audience on: https://www.embrapa.br/busca-de-solucoes-tecnologicas/-/produto-servico/11584/programa-de-certificacao-em-biosseguridade-para-propriedades-leiteiras. The adoption of the biosecurity certification program or good practices recommended in the checklist allows dairy farms to expand disease control, promoting animal health and production. This project is related to SDO 2: To erradicate the hunger, reaching food security and improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture. It is related specifically to goal 2.4 Until do 2030, to assure sustainable food production systems; to implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production; to help to keep ecosystems; to strenght the capacity of adaptation to climate change and extreme meteorological conditions, droughts, floods and other disasters ; and to progressively increase land and soil quality. This vinculation is justified because the biosecurity certification program has the potential to improve the dairy production sustainability by promoting animal health and decreasing veterinary drug usage and by reducing the risk of drug residues in dairy products and in the environment.

Status: Completed Start date: Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2021 Conclusion date: Wed Jan 31 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2024

Head Unit: Embrapa Dairy Cattle

Project leader: Bruno Campos de Carvalho

Contact: bruno.carvalho@embrapa.br