Understanding how on-farm biosecurity perceptions and practices of New South Wales sheep producers have been impacted by the 2022 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Indonesia

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly infectious transboundaryemergency animal disease posing a significant threat tothe global economy. Australia strengthened border security followingthe 2022 FMD outbreak in Indonesia allocating resourcesto promote biosecurity awareness and engagement. This studyqualitatively investigated the impact of this extension on thebiosecurity perceptions and practices of sheep producers in NewSouth Wales, Australia. Eighteen sheep producers participated insemi-structured interviews during August–September 2023. Thematicanalysis revealed biosecurity to be perceived as important forindustry and enterprise productivity; however, on-farm biosecuritypractices were mostly associated solely with bioexclusion. Sevenproducers engaged directly with post-Indonesian FMD outbreakextension and reported increased FMD awareness. Changes to onfarmbiosecurity were made by half the participants following the2022 Indonesian FMD outbreak, with three of these having receivedextension engagement. The main explanations for lack of changewere the perceptions that no change to disease risk had occurred,that current practices adequately mitigated risk and that changewould be impractical. Future studies aimed at further understandingthe factors that influence both the immediate and long-termeffectiveness of extension activities would be beneficial to thedevelopment of future biosecurity extension and policy.