Supporting sustainable small-scale animal agriculture through development of biological risk management educational materials

Biological Risk Management (BRM) is a well-defined process of evaluating and reducing the risk of infectious disease entry and spread on a livestock operation. BRM is a critical component of maintaining a healthy population of animals and is especially important for the sustainability of small-scale livestock operations (SSLO) because it decreases the risk of infectious disease, thus lessening morbidities and mortalities, reducing labor and stress associated with identifying sick animals, and decreasing use and cost of antimicrobials. BRM thus enhances profitability and contributes to a higher quality of life for the producer, their animals, the environment and the community.

Many SSLO have little awareness of BRM and how to implement BRM practices on their operations. The proposed project will provide resources for agriculture extension professionals to use with SSLOs to recognize and reduce routes of disease entry and spread. Online educational resources for extension professionals to assess and mitigate biological risk on SSLO will be developed. Materials will cover biological risk identification, infectious disease risk reduction, and response to and management of infectious diseases in SSLO. Materials will include printable templates, handouts, and posters. A train-the-trainer session will be held for agriculture professionals who will disseminate the information to their producers. The SSLO will benefit from developing site- and species- specific BRM plans to reduce the risk of infectious disease entry and spread. Understanding and implementing important BRM concepts and tools supports long-term sustainability of the region’s SSLO by promoting both human and animal health and increased profitability.

Project objectives:

Objectives of this project were to:

Develop effective BRM educational materials by working with a SSLO Advisory Group.
Partner with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (ISUEO) to share materials with NCR colleagues by communication through newsletters, emails, and on the ISUEO website.
Partner with ISUEO Small Farm Sustainability to provide materials to small holder livestock operations in Iowa as well as nationally via communication from Extension personnel as well as website availability of resources.
Conduct an in-person train-the-trainer workshop at the Iowa Small Farm Sustainability Conference to prepare Extension personnel to use available resources in their regions. Conference materials will be available online through a series of recorded PowerPoint presentations. These materials will prepare the Extension personnel to discuss BRM topics as well as familiarize them with available resources to use when working with SSLO.
Create and provide web-based educational materials and tools for Extension personnel to use with SSLO and for SSLO to use directly.

At least 80 people are expected to attend each BRM workshop at the Spring ISUEO Agriculture and Natural Resources Professional Development Day. ISUEO Small Farm Sustainability personnel will extend invitations to attend the conference workshops to approximately 120 NCR sustainability academic partners via email and printed invitation. Additionally, two webinars will be scheduled following the conclusion of the conferences to introduce extension personnel to the resources and train them in how to use them. Extension personnel expected to participate include NCR extension specialists for swine, cattle (dairy and beef), poultry, small ruminants, equine, and extension veterinarians.

At least 1,000 people are expected to take advantage of the online learning opportunities and resources. The CFSPH website is a high visibility website, particularly for BRM, and has over 361,057 unique visitors each year. The resources the team develops for SSLO will be well-advertised on the CFSPH homepage. ISUEO Small Farm Sustainability website receives approximately 5,000 unique visits per month and the course will also be advertised on this site. The ISUEO Small Farm Sustainability program will also advertise the course availability within the Acreage Living newsletter, which is sent to approximately 2,500 subscribers in rural Iowa.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.