The Focus Animal Welfare Network, together with the Lower Saxony Animal Disease Fund, the Federal Association of Practising Veterinarians, the Landvolk and other partners, is involved in organising training events on biosecurity in animal husbandry. These are based on EU animal health legislation, which has been directly applicable in all EU Member States since April 2021.
The biosecurity management plan focuses on protecting the farm from the introduction of disease. Under the new animal health legislation of the European Union, livestock farmers and veterinarians have a special responsibility to ensure "protection against biological hazards". As part of animal health visits, veterinarians are responsible in particular for advising livestock farmers on the implementation of farm-specific biosecurity measures.
In order to embed the biosecurity concept and its implementation in farms, the Lower Saxony Animal Disease Fund will provide financial support for advice from qualified veterinarians and consultants.
Four training events focusing on pig and poultry farming have already been held in 2024. Further dates have been announced for 2025 and 2026, including for cattle farming. The training courses are aimed at veterinarians and consultants and are a prerequisite for receiving advisory subsidies from the Lower Saxony Animal Disease Fund.
The concepts were developed by the Lower Saxony Animal Disease Fund in collaboration with industry representatives. The "Lower Saxony Biosecurity Concept" has been available for pig and poultry farms since last year and has recently been expanded to include a concept for cattle farms. It contains practical tools such as guidelines, checklists and management plans and serves to implement EU requirements at farm level.
The biosecurity concepts are available online on the Lower Saxony Animal Disease Fund website.