Threats
Biosecurtiy - Calves
The dairy has no biosecurity measures currently in place, meaning that if a disease were to get onto the farm, it would spread drastically and have detrimental effects on the farm. The gates to the farm are always open and there is no sign in required for guests. There is also no footbath or booties offered to guests. This is especially important as it means that visitors that may come from other farms can track any bacteria onto the UGA Dairy. Biosecurity is specifically an issue for the calves. While the calves are at the back of the farm, they are right next to the feed mill. So, any trucks that come to the dairy to deliver feed are passing by/next to the calves. These trucks visit other farms as well as processing plants and can easily track bacteria onto the farm and are directly exposing them to the calves. The calves are especially susceptible since there is no physical barrier such as a gate surrounding the calves. As calves are the future of the dairy, an outbreak of disease could be detrimental to the dairy and prevent them from having enough replacement heifers to survive in the future.