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The Citizen, 2006-03-16, Page 37Dave Franken Concrete Forming Ltd. For all your concrete needs • Residential • Commercial • Agricultural - Circular Tanks - Sandwich Walls - Bunker Silos R. R. #3 Blyth, Ontario NOM 1H0 Phone: (519) 523-9971 Fax: (519) 523-9604 PAGE A16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2006. Agriculture 2006 Feather boards simulate emergency By Bonnie Gropp Citizen' editor No one ever knows for sure how they will handle an emergency. The poultry industry's four "feather" boards decided the best way to find out was to put themselves to the test. Area resident, Mark Beaven, field operations manager with the Ontario Egg Producers, said that in 2003 that organization, along with the Chicken Farmers of Ontario, the Ontario Broiler and Hatching Egg Chicken Committee and the Ontario Turkey Producers Marketing Board began working towards conducting a foreign animal disease simulation. A design team was put in place and a scenario developed. "We only know what three days the simulation would be, but they even fooled us on that, starting it a day earlier." The indexed farm was located near Moorefield. The producer contacted Beaven, who represented the lead agency, saying that he was experiencing a higher rate of morality. The events over the next three days were set to see how they reacted and controlled the disease, Beaven said. "In case of disease outbreak we enact the feather board command centre and go into emergency management." The identification of the farm was the first step to be taken in this simulation. "One of the biggest things is to self declare and self quarantine," said Beaven. "We want producers to come forward, not hide thinking this will go away." Using GIS information, they drew a 10-km. circle around the farm and contacted all poultry producers within the circle. "They were told to MVCA administers program Continued from A15 project is administered through the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. "They have the expertise and can meet with the farmer, guide them and assist with the process," said Tousaw. Finding out if you have an abandoned well on your property could actually be the bigger challenge, rather than funding. Tousaw suggests getting in touch with neighbours and former owners. "We should be asking elders of the community where the wells are on their old farms. We need to tap them for that information." He notes that the county is monitoring well water on an annual basis.• "In another initiative coming out of the groundwater study was a sample in 2000 of roughly 177 wells with the landowners' co-operation. We now have six sentinel wells that are sampled several times a year by the conservation adthority." It's this type of action that helps put the issue in perspective, Tousaw feels. "Groundwater studies in Huron have determined that the quality is quite good. There is no need to be alarmed. This is about being more pro-active and ensuring that the water stays in good quality. These are the initial steps to reduce the probability of a problem" Reid agrees, though albeit somewhat more cautiously. "Yes, it could be a long time before there is a known problem." heighten their biosecurity measure." The boards were also able to trace back and ahead to determine where the problem may have originated and to contain it. "It ended up that some of the pullets had left the indexed farm the night before and had ended up at Whalen's -Corners. These ones got sick as well so we did the same thing around this farm." Beaven said the GIS system was so advanced they were able to draw a two-km zone around the route the truck took. The last major. factor in the simulation was for the Ontario Egg Producers to give the authority for the producer to dispose of his flock and offer compensation if the government didn't. "What usually happens is that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency comes in and takes samples but won't order the destruction until the results are returned. This could take weeks, so we made the decision to not wait around." This proved to be an important step. "CFIA didn't want to be seen as dragging its feet so they authorized compensation. That doesn't usually happen." Out of this, Beaven said the CFIA recognized the benefits of having the industry reps in the same room with them. "The feather board command centre was literally brought into the inner sanctum of the CFIA emergency centre." The benefit of this, he said, is obvious; those in the industry know the industry best. "CFIA is foreign to these 'farms. They are coming in cold. We know the players and are able to trace what's happened. It was a great assistance and they saw the benefit." Another result of the simulation is development of fact sheets on enhanced biosecurity that will be distributed to producers. "It basically says, 'okay this is wartime, what am I supposed to do'." They are creating an emergency response manual for producers to make the answers to those questions easier. Taking the knowledge they have to other farm industries has been another benefit from the exercise. "The livestock and poultry council has formed and we are using the knowledge we gained and spreading it tar the non-poultry industries." This past December, the dairy industry was the scenario for another simulation with the poultry boards playing a peripheral damage role. "It should be noted as well, though I may be at risk of sounding cocky, that the four feather board are getting very good at this. There is a long way to go, but we are becoming proficient." The proficiency appears to be paying off. Recently ari outbreak of the 'bird cold', an illness not dangerous to humans, but rather a production issue, was handled by the board. "Every so often there are ILT (Infectious Laryngotracheitis) outbreaks in Ontario. The normal range of affected farms could be 20- 70 before it's over. The one in 2004, just after the simulation, was limited to nine farms. We just had one in January that was limited to one. The main reason was the farmer recognized a problem and went into complete lockdown." The boards are continuing to learn and lead. They have gone to Tennessee to participate in a destruction and disposal conference through the U.S. Federation of Agriculture and in April will be giving a workshop on biosecurity. Initiatives to help educate producers with backyard flocks are also being done. "We want to help educate them. We recognize they are a legitimate entity but we want to help them to protect the entire industry." Organizing service crews to help them be bettet prepared is another project in the works. Though stressing the work that lies ahead, Beaven clearly is proud of an industry that has shown leadership in the area of biosecurity. "We have come a long way in two or three years."