Be Prepared
- Do you know how to protect your farm from risks posed by natural disasters or disease outbreaks?
- Are you equipped to protect your animals, your property and your business in the event of an extreme weather emergency?
Just as people should be prepared to take care of themselves and their family, farmers need to be prepared as well.
Step 1: Know your risk
What risks does your farm face?
- Are you a producer concerned about possible disease outbreaks or power interruptions?
- Are you located in an area that could be affected by floods, wildfires, hurricanes or earthquakes?
Knowing what risks you may face helps you prepare.
Step 2: Get planning
A farm emergency plan and emergency kit are critical resources you should have on your farm and keep updated. They ensure you have the necessary information, supplies/equipment and procedures stored in one or several safe locations.
Emergency plan
Every farm and facility is different. Your plan should include actions that consider all possible emergencies that could affect your operation.
Here are items you should consider including in your emergency plan.
- A list of equipment, supplies and tools you’ll need in an emergency and how to access them.
- People to contact (for example, veterinarian, industry associations, suppliers) and whether special agreements are needed to receive their assistance.
- Roles, responsibilities, and actions of farm employees in the event of an emergency.
Emergency kit
An emergency kit is the tool where emergency information and supplies are stored. Items to consider include:
- Your emergency plan.
- Records of assets on your premises (for example, a map of your farm, the number and type of livestock, equipment, feed and water supplies, hazardous materials, and vaccination records).
- Plan to identify your animals if they need to be evacuated from your farm in an emergency (for example, tags, tattoos or other identifiers).
- Equipment and supplies to handle animals such as halters, cages, blankets and, bolt-cutters, sanitation supplies, and personal protective equipment.
What else can you do
- Keep all existing protocols in an accessible location and save a copy online with a cloud service. Computers and USB keys run the risk of being damaged in the event of a fire or flood. Update the files regularly.
- Develop a plan of action and practice the roles and responsibilities for key risks with farm employees. Ensure that your plan is displayed in a prominent location and that your staff members know where it's located.
Resources available
- Livestock Market Interruption Strategy Report
- Emergency Preparedness for Farm Animals
- Codes of Practice for the care and handling of farm animals
- Pig Handling
- Canada-Ontario Environmental Farm Plan
- Humane Mass Depopulation of Animals - Position Statement from Canadian Veterinarians
- Industry association plans and producer guidelines
- A series of plans and guidelines, developed under the leadership of the Canadian Animal Health Coalition, to enable the sector to be an effective partner in managing the response to disease-related emergencies.
Alternative formats
Emergency planning is for producers too (PDF version, 80 KB)