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Risk pathways map Stop, check, clean, report Information checklist Additional resources

A risk pathway is a method through which infection or disease can reach or spread from your farm. This page emphasises the importance of being prepared to prevent foot and mouth disease in New Zealand. You can protect your farm by understanding and managing the risk pathways specific to your farm. DairyNZ, in collaboration with the Ministry for Primary Industries, provides tools like a farm map and checklist to help you identify and mitigate these risks. The page also outlines important on-farm practices like record-keeping and cleaning processes to further safeguard against the disease.


A risk pathway is a way infection or disease can reach your farm and livestock or be spread from your farm.

Being prepared is our best defence to stamp out foot and mouth disease quickly if it were to reach New Zealand. You can do your part by knowing the risk pathways on your farm and having the right information on hand and up to date.

To help stop the spread of foot and mouth disease onto or off your farm should it arrive in New Zealand, it’s important to know what risks might apply to your farm and how you can mitigate these risks to safeguard your property and others.

Biosecurity pre-purchase fillable checklist

PDF Biosecurity 56 KB
A biosecurity pre-purchase checklist for guidance.

Biosecurity travel reference card

PDF Poster 742 KB
Biosecurity risk assessment that covers visiting overseas farms, what to consider before returning to New Zealand, and what to do on arrival..

Remember to stop, check, clean and report

If a foot and mouth disease outbreak were to occur in New Zealand, restrictions will be put in place on certain activities, and on the movements of animals and products to reduce the spread of the disease. You may be required to provide information (via a permitting system) if your farm is to undertake certain on-farm activities or to access certain services, so having key on-farm information on hand and up to date will be crucial. This information will also support MPI as the lead agency for biosecurity response, to identify infected properties, the modes of spread, and help stamp out foot and mouth disease.

Use the foot and mouth disease information checklist below to ensure you have on-hand and up-to-date information to help you be best prepared for foot-and-mouth disease and other disease threats.

Foot and mouth disease information checklist
STOP AND CHECK ANIMALS

NAIT - Identification and Movements 
Are my NAIT records up to date?

• Is my NAIT location registered?
• Are all my animals NAIT tagged and registered in NAIT?
• Are all my animal movements recorded in NAIT within 48 hours?

Animal Records
Am I meeting Animal Status Declaration (ASD/ eASD) requirements?

• Have I completed ASD/ eASD forms for the movements of animals where there is a different person in charge or when they are going to slaughter?
• Have I kept copies of the ASD/eASD documentation for animals I have sold/ sent to slaughter for one-year post-sale?
• Do I have copies of the ASD/eASD documentation for the animals I have purchased and still own?

Do I keep records of where we source our animals from? (e.g., property types, region)

BIOSECURITY PLAN

Do we have a Biosecurity Plan in place for our farm?

• What is our farm's risk pathways for foot and mouth disease?
• What is our plan to manage or mitigate biosecurity risk pathways?
• Do we have a visitor sign-in and out process, including clean on and off processes?

OTHER PATHWAYS

Farm Boundaries
• What property types do I back on to? 

Raw milk
• Do I keep records of any raw milk from my farm being supplied to other farms or lifestyle blocks for calves? 

Pigs
• Do I keep records of any raw milk from my farm being supplied to pigs?
• Do I ensure NO untreated meat scraps or meat products in human food waste are fed to pigs?

CLEAN CLEAN ON AND OFF PROCESSES

What cleaning, disinfection and treatment processes do we use for people and equipment coming on and going off farm? 

• Have I communicated what a good clean on and off process looks like to my farm team and any contractors or frequent visitors?
• Do I have a sufficient supply of cleaning and disinfection products on-hand and are the supplies up to date?

REPORT FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE SYMPTOMS

Do I know the symptoms of foot and mouth disease and know what to look out for in cattle?

• Have I talked with my farm team about foot and mouth disease and what to do if they see symptoms suspected of being foot and mouth disease?
• Have I informed my farm team of the need to report unusual or suspect symptoms in cattle to our local vet or directly to the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) Pest and Disease Hotline 0800 80 99 66?

Additional resources

Resources to help you be prepared for foot and mouth disease

Biosecurity farm plan

PDF Template 530 KB
Use this template to create your own farm biosecurity plan and strengthen preparedness for potential threats.

Biosecurity visitor sign (A4 version)

PDF Poster 14 KB
Display this sign at the farm entrance to ensure visitors contact you before entering.

Biosecurity visitor sign (A3 version)

PDF Poster 18 KB
Display this sign at the farm entrance to ensure visitors contact you before entering.

Biosecurity visitor management plan

PDF Template 57 KB
Anyone coming onto your farm may pose a risk to the health of your staff or animals and could bring weeds and pests along for the ride. To reduce this risk, it’s important to set up some simple controls.

Biosecurity pre-purchase fillable checklist

PDF Biosecurity 56 KB
A biosecurity pre-purchase checklist for guidance.

Biosecurity travel reference card

PDF Poster 742 KB
Biosecurity risk assessment that covers visiting overseas farms, what to consider before returning to New Zealand, and what to do on arrival..

Additional links

Foot Mouth Disease Overview

/biosecurity/diseases/foot-and-mouth-disease/
Last updated: Sep 2023
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