Good business practices

We receive from the working group coordinated by Francesca Pisseri for AIDA – Italian Association of Agroecology – a “package” of documents dedicated to small poultry grazing farmers. Sharing good practices is important to ensure that small-scale farming does not succumb to the coercion of rules abstracted from territorial contexts.

“The scientific technical paper“Grazing Poultry and One Health” takes a global and ecosystemic view of hygiene and health, it supports grazing poultry farms as they can benefit animal, human and environmental health.
In these farming systems, you have a highly diversified agricultural system, in which the cohabitation of numerous microbial, plant and animal species can generate health, only if agroecological management is correct and biosecurity measures are taken, and well adapted to these contexts.
The paper, sponsored and coordinated by the Italian Agroecology Association, was compiled by researchers, veterinarians, technicians and farmers.”

“The Document of Good Farm Practices is a template, made available by the Italian Agroecology Association, that farmers and veterinarians can use as a basis for making both a “Manual of Good Farm Practices” and a “Salmonella Self-Control Plan,” set up with an agroecological approach, for grazing farms. The document should be regarded as an outline; it should be modified and adapted to the individual farm reality. It contains in the first part a description of the farm and its production cycles, then goes on to describe the main biosecurity measures that are taken in order to prevent pathogens from entering the farm and limit their spread. Finally, the monitoring that is put in place with regard to some potential pathogens that are risky to poultry and/or humans is exposed. The document set up in this way is useful for two reasons. First, it provides valuable operational support for the farmer who can consult it to recall procedures agreed upon with the farm veterinarian. Second, it is very useful in the relationship between public ASL veterinarians and the farmer/farm veterinarian since it demonstrates the responsibility they take in maintaining public health.”