Animal diseases can be spread by dirty or shared vehicles, ATVs, equipment, and machinery. Having a plan to limit vehicles, equipment, and their movement on your farm or ranch can help prevent disease introduction.
Vehicle and equipment movement risks
What kinds of vehicle or equipment movement occurs on your farm? Have the vehicles that come onto your property been to other animal operations? If so, it’s possible they could spread disease to your farm. Some examples might include:
- Animal delivery trucks or trailers
- Milk trucks or egg transport vehicles
- Dead animal or manure removal trucks
- Feed, bedding, fuel, or propane delivery trucks
- Mail, package, or supply delivery
- Vehicles that belong to workers, family, friends, or other visitors
- Trash or recycling pick up
- Groundskeeping equipment such as skid loaders, mowers, tractors, etc.
Limit access to animal areas
To protect your livestock, limit access of off-site vehicles and equipment. Mark points of entry to your farm with signs. Plan drive paths so that off-farm vehicles or equipment don’t drive into animal areas and only allow clean vehicles and equipment onto your farm.
Provide parking areas
Provide a parking area for visitors and people who work on your farm. Ideally this area will be away from animal areas. Vehicles that come to your property for dead animals, manure, litter, and compost removal should pick up on the edge of your property, away from animal areas. Limit the sharing of animal transport vehicles (e.g., trailers). If the vehicles are shared, remember to clean and disinfect them between uses.
Farm-dedicated equipment
Having farm-dedicated equipment and machinery is a good way to limit the spread of diseases but isn’t always possible. Any shared items including heavy machinery such as tractors or skid loaders, should be cleaned and potentially disinfected, before entering your farm or ranch.
Keep your livestock healthy by having a plan to limit the risks of off-farm vehicles, equipment, and machinery on your farm.
More resources
- Vehicles and Equipment Biosecurity Tip Sheet (iastate.edu)
- Traffic Control – Healthy Farms Healthy Agriculture
- Cleaning and Disinfection Biosecurity Tip Sheet (iastate.edu),