Value
Maximum of $50,000Description
Producer – Preventing Introduction and Spread of Pests Through Isolation, Sanitation, and Controlling Work Flow supports projects that focus on reducing biosecurity risks into, out of, and within high-risk areas of the operation, in a measurable or proven way.
Eligible Applicants
Producers who have identified high-risk areas in their operation with regards to workflow, sanitation or the ability to isolate material, and have identified a project that could decrease the level of risk in those areas in a measurable or proven way by:
- Establishing quarantine/isolation mechanisms or areas for high-risk materials
- Retrofits or new additions to establish an effective transition from high-risk to low-risk areas
- Substantial changes in facility flow management or production that mitigate risks from plant pests
- Installation of cleaning and/or disinfection equipment
An applicant must have completed:
- A Crop and Horticulture Biosecurity Workshop
- A farm-wide assessment against national biosecurity standards or a commodity-specific plant health/pest risk assessment, that supports need for the project
- Assessment may be completed by the applicant or by a qualified third party, such as certified crop advisor
- Assessment requirements can be found at ontariosoilcrop.org
- An Action Plan based on the biosecurity assessment that:
- Identifies places of highest risk on farm with regards to workflow/sanitation/ability to isolate material
- Describes how the project addresses highest risks and adequately reduces them in a measurable or proven way
Eligible Expenses
- Modifications or additions to existing structures to establish an anteroom or header house into high-risk areas such as propagation areas or susceptible crops
- Proposed modifications or additions must clearly demonstrate separation of clean and dirty traffic flow through a controlled access point
- Modifications or additions to existing structures to facilitate more efficient movement of plants and people to reduce biosecurity risks, for example:
- Clearly defining zones (e.g., RAZ; high-risk area) and access points to these zones using signage, fencing, insect-proof barriers, grading or landscaping
- Improving the efficiency of traffic flow to reduce contamination through establishing new or re-routing existing walkways, laneways, access routes and vehicle turning areas
- Installing barriers that can be used during times of high-risk if walkways, for example, cannot be re-routed (e.g., drop screens to protect sensitive crops or propagation material if culled or finished material must pass through the area)
- Controlling access to operation and buildings through gates, fencing, signage, locks, barriers or security monitoring equipment
- Construction of hard surface (e.g., concrete pad) or wash bay for cleaning and disinfecting vehicles and equipment within the CAZ or at a CAP, including:
- Installation of sanitation facilities at CAPs or anterooms to higher risk areas must be part of a complete transition area for effective biosecurity
- Replacing interior surfaces (e.g., walls, flooring, dividers) with non-porous washable materials such as concrete, puck board or stainless steel
- Installation of specialized cleaning and disinfection equipment (e.g., tractor attachments for cleanout, permanent footbaths, equipment to sterilize pots or beds)
- Installing a treatment system for the purpose of disinfecting or removing pathogens, particulate, crop residue or contaminants from water
- Construction of a new structure used only as a quarantine or isolation facility or modification of an existing structure to be used only as a quarantine or isolation facility that reduces biosecurity risks identified in your biosecurity assessment
- Must have separate air space, controlled access point and be easily cleaned and disinfected
- Includes modification of existing structures to create segregation areas for distinct cohorts (e.g., new plant shipments) or between areas of high-risk and low-risk (e.g., propagation vs. production)
- Emergency elimination of plant or soil materials posing a biosecurity risk to plant health (e.g. contaminated by spores or pests), specifically:
- Construction materials to build a containment area to hold contaminated plant material or soil until destruction or movement to a proper waste management facility
- Trucking expenses to move contaminated plant or soil to proper waste management facility
- Expenses incurred from implementation of sanitation procedures by an external company, or internal costs of purchasing sanitation supplies
- In-kind contributions
Deadline Date
Please click the link indicated below for update.Contact
Contact Name: Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Phone Number: 1-877-424-1300
E-mail Address: ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca