Pearce wants biosecurity to be 'second nature' to farmers

Any Tasmanian who thinks Avian Bird Flu won’t reach our island needs to think again, according to Primary Industries and Water Minister Gavin Pearce.

His message around what can realistically be achieved through biosecurity measures was made loud and clear in his address to the Rural Business Tasmania AGM/Forum of Rural Stakeholders Meeting held in Riverside, Launceston on October 22.

Signs consistent with the H5 strain of bird flu have been observed in elephant seals on Australia's sub-Antarctic Heard Island - until now Australia was the only continent not affected by the highly contagious disease which affects birds, other animals and occasionally humans.

The importance of biosecurity was the theme of Minister Pearce’s speech, and he congratulated Rural Business Tasmania for working closely with farmers and associated organisations while navigating the challenges and uncertainty around the recent Mop-Top potato virus incursion.

Minister Pearce highlighted the work of scientists in the room who have been working on treatments and strategies around Spongospora subterranea (powdery scab) which will help manage Mop-Top in the future.

However, he also made no bones about the wake-up call Mop-Top has given the agriculture industry, saying it’s reinforced many issues at the farmgate.

“I don't think farmers took biosecurity probably as seriously as what I'd like - I think it’s reinforced that,” he said.

“I think the issue of biosecurity is now being put front and centre … I want biosecurity to be at the forefront of everything we do in agriculture, but I don't want it to be a second thought.

“I want farmers to realise biosecurity means everything to them because we have a thousand things that will kill agriculture. Biosecurity is their only protection around that. I want it to be second nature to them.”

Minister Pearce said that it’s important that farmers have strategies and plans and are prepared financially and scientifically, and that they've got the help that they need to move through any diseases that threaten their livelihood.

He said he believes that within 10 years there will be dramatic changes on farms, with every farm having a washdown point, a self-contained, complete biosecurity system.

“I understand completely the effects on a farmer's bottom line. I live it every day,” he said.

“I know what it's like to borrow too much money, and I know what it's like to employ people and go without yourself so that your workers, your employees, are paid before you.

“I know the strains that places on a farming family. And I don't think we can measure the fallout of that. It's with you constantly, and it gets you down. It gets you down to a point where you can't get up and go.”

He applauded the world of RBT saying the charity is able to “stand by our farmers and to provide that resilience, to provide that inner strength so that they can”.

 Minister Pearce also bemoaned the corporatising of farms, especially in the dairy industry, saying land values have skyrocketed beyond the reach of individuals and local families

“I don't want that corporatisation of farming being (the reason farming is) lost on a generation of young people, who I believe should be looking at agriculture as the very best thing they could do for their future,” he said.

“How do we recognise or sell the fact that agriculture has never been a better career for young people? And we don't want it to be just a career that is, ‘If I can't find anything else to do, I'll go and work on a farm’.

“I want the smartest kids to get involved with agriculture, I want to tell their stories and I want to teach a generation that agriculture is the most diverse, interesting, smart industry that you could ever be involved in, and the rewards are greater than anything else you could do.”