NZGrower & Orchardist | August Biosecurity Awareness Month
BIOSECURITY AWARE &
BASIC STEPS TO PROTECT YOUR OPERATION TODAY
People, vehicles and equipment present the greatest biosecurity risk. Pruning tools, tractors, irrigation systems, and even footwear can all be vectors for spreading pests and diseases between crops.
1. Restrict access and visitors on site – minimise entry to non-essential areas
2. Monitor your crop regularly for early detection
3. Make sure everybody hands and boots hands, where possible use gloves and walk through a sanitation foot bath/mat
4. Clean your tools and machinery thoroughly separate equipment) between rows, fields and orchards
5. Don’t borrow equipment from other growers
KNOW AND MANAGE YOUR RISKS
VEGETABLE GROWERS’ ON-FARM BIOSECURITY MANUAL
Every grower understands the threat posed by biosecurity incursions such as Psa and Tomato Potato Psyllid – as well as new threats including Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Tomato brown rugose fruit virus and Pepino Mosaic Virus… just to name a few.
However, we can’t rely on New Zealand border controls and Ministry for Primary Industries/industry responses alone. Every farm and orchard needs a biosecurity plan and to do its part. Before we even know about an incursion, your farm and orchard operations could be at risk. For example, soil-borne diseases or viruses can take months before symptoms are identified.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure – don’t wait for an incursion to act. Vigilance and good biosecurity hygiene practices are your best line of defence.
Update your on-farm/on-orchard biosecurity plan
An on-farm and on-orchard strategy is only effective if stringent hygiene processes are part of everyday practices. A written biosecurity plan gets everybody involved in your business on the same page. It should outline how you manage machinery movement, trace activities, and respond to unusual sightings.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
Whether you are refreshing your existing plan or getting started, you’ll find a lot of resources available through your industry bodies.
Investing time and materials to establish good biosecurity practices promises a hundredfold reward through smooth operations and avoiding future financial problems, movement restrictions and market access issues.
Crop-specific templates and manuals available
Product groups have prepared crop-specific templates and manuals. The plans can be customised to your operation’s scale and needs.
• Kiwifruit growers on-orchard biosecurity plan by Kiwifruit Vine Health
• Summerfruit NZ biosecurity manual
• Apples and pears Orchard Biosecurity Checklist (available for pipfruit growers via NZ Apples & Pears)
• Biosecurity plan for the New Zealand Avocado Industry (NZ Avocado)
• Asian Citrus Psyllid & Huanglongbing: A Biosecurity Response Guide (available for citrus growers via Citrus NZ)
• TomatoesNZ best practice greenhouse hygiene poster and Tomato Brown Rugose update (also available in Korean)
• Potatoes New Zealand on-farm biosecurity poster and pest and disease handbook
• HortNZ on-farm biosecurity plan
Contact your product group to receive materials listed above. For other crops, see the HortNZ biosecurity plan guide or contact us for further advice.
Nursery and seed hygiene
Make sure that trees, vines, seedlings and seed brought onto your property are clean by sourcing from a reputable and traceable source. Plant Pass operates as a voluntary biosecurity certification programme, similar to Good Agricultural Practice schemes used elsewhere in horticulture. The scheme features a core standard and checklist addressing common nursery hazards, with guidance covering training, hygiene, crop protection, monitoring and traceability. www.plantpass.org.nz
CLEAN-UP FOR SPRING WITH 10% OFF
Make the right call for your biosecurity this season, with great pricing on essential products from Farmlands.
Shop now in-store or online with Farmlands using the code NZGROWER2025 to get 10% OFF qualifying products.*
products
10% off our national sell price valid 1st August – 30th September 2025.
*Qualifying
Virkon S 2.5kg (1029381), Bahco BCL 23 Electric Pruner (1056603), Bahco Pruning Knife (1004740), Bahco Bypass Secateur 190 (1065924), Sanitising Footbath Mat (1066654), Bene Mud Stopper (1053249), Softcare Citrus Anti Bacterial Hand Wash 5L (1006875), Cyclone Cleaner Disinfectant 5L (1008796), Vehicle Wash Down Brush (1046486), Hansen Turbo Sweep Washdown Nozzle Pack (1041113), Lynn River Nitrile Gloves 100pk (1056008), Redband Gumboots Mens (1024227), Redband Gumboots Womans Youth (1024228), Redband Gumboots Child (1024229), Redband Gumboots Junior (1024611)
YOUR INDUSTRY BIOSECURITY MANAGERS
What happens to your business when you find a pest?
Growers are often the first to notice the presence of a new biosecurity threat. If you spot anything unusual, be sure to catch it, snap a photo and report it via the Ministry for Primary Industries pest and disease hotline: 0800 80 99 66
Reporting a potential incursion is a responsibility that every grower takes seriously, but it is naturally also a worrying step to take. That’s why it’s also important to contact your product group as soon as possible. Industry biosecurity managers can provide support and advice to help with business continuity and liaison with the authorities.
Want to get in touch with a biosecurity manager? Contact your product group or HortNZ: info@hortnz.co.nz or call the grower free phone: 0508 467 869
Horticulture New Zealand advocates on behalf of the wider horticulture sector and provides biosecurity support for the product groups for other crops not represented here.
How
industry bodies work together for growers
Biosecurity hygiene practices work best when the fresh produce and primary production sectors work together. The biosecurity managers from the wider horticulture and plantproducing sector, including HortNZ and product groups, collaborate closely to ensure all growers benefit and our industry is prepared and protected as well as possible. While product groups have a strong operational focus, HortNZ’s Risk Policy team engages with a variety of Government departments to advocate for high biosecurity standards.
Biosecurity Aware is a supplement of NZGrower & Orchardist, produced by
HESL provides biosecurity support for the following product groups:
Biosecurity Business Pledge
On behalf of growers, HortNZ has been a member of the Biosecurity Business Pledge since it started in 2020. The pledge is the first initiative of its kind in New Zealand to create a pre-competitive network across the business community and Biosecurity New Zealand.
