Farmers urged to plan for Covid-19 to reduce supply chain disruption

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By Sally Murphy of RNZ

As New Zealand farmers prepare for Omicron cases to rise, an Australian farming leader says dealing with the virus is difficult but being flexible is key.

Farmers here have been advised to come up with a checklist for how to run their farm in case they are too sick, and the sector is in talks with the government to ensure food supply chains face little disruption.

Across the ditch, Omicron has ripped through New South Wales and Victoria, exposing testing regimes and decimating supply chains.

The National Farmers Federation represents farmers and the agriculture industry across Australia.

Chief executive Tony Mahar said rural areas had not been hit as hard as the big cities but food production had been affected.

"I've heard some reports of farmers sending livestock to market and the processor not having the capacity to actually deal with the stock because they don't have enough staff but luckily that hasn't been a regular occurrence and has only been isolated incidents. There has been a lot of disruption but for the most part, we've been able to manage."

He said the agriculture industry did a lot of planning and preparation for Covid-19, but the most important aspect of managing the outbreak had been being flexible.

"Governments have been pretty ready to recognize the importance of being adaptable as best we can. There's definitely been shortages on supermarket shelves, depending on where you are and what product you're after. But by and large we've been able to scrape by.

"The government has been able to make some adjustments that have allowed the processing and food supply chain to actually continue to function. It's looked at isolation periods and providing rapid antigen testing. It's been a real balance to do what we need to do while ensuring we maintain safe workplaces."

Mahar said his advice to New Zealand farmers preparing for more cases of Covid-19 in the community was to make sure they had a plan.

"Make sure you're doing everything you can around maintaining the business, keep your employees, contractors and supply partners informed and make sure you have plans in place, in case Covid makes its way onto the farm.

"It's good to reduce the risk as much as possible by limiting who comes onto the property as well."

- RNZ