3.7 Minimize Exposure to Disease

Disease prevention practices are essential for maintaining and promoting animal health. Having areas to isolate or quarantine animals, maintaining a closed herd, good cleaning and disinfection protocols, good grazing management, and limiting visitor contact with animals (particularly if visitors are livestock professionals or have been around livestock recently) help prevent disease introduction and spread in the herd (Coffey & Baier, 2012). This is an area where veterinarians can be helpful as consultants for O/A farms.

The Livestock Project has assembled several self-assessment checklists, templates, and handouts to assist O/A farmers and ranchers prepare for disease prevention. The tools are not substantially different from those developed for conventional farms but attempt to be sensitive to the needs and desires of alternative and organic livestock and poultry farmers and ranchers.

• Guidance for Treating Organic and Alternative Livestock
• Tip sheet for the National Organic Program’s (NOP) Pasture Rule
• Animal Health Conversation Starters
• Disaster and Emergency Planning for Small Farms and Ranches: The Basics
• Step 1: Movement Risks and Disease Prevention
• Step 2: Disease Prevention Self-assessment Checklist
• Step 3: Disease Prevention Plan Template
• Frequently Asked Questions on Reportable Animal Diseases for Organic/Alternative Livestock Producers
• What does a Reportable Disease or Foreign Animal Disease Look Like? Infographic
• Common Products and Treatments for Organic and Alternative Livestock
• Health Strategies for Organic Dairy Farms
• Organic Livestock Requirements (USDA) [PDF]
• Coleman’s Leadership Styles at a glance [PDF]