Farm Biosecurity to Avoid Cross Contamination

Posted in Our Blog on June 20, 2026

Growing up I was often asked “were you raised in a barn” and the simple answer is no, but a broader answer ius absolutely I was. Sometimes I saw the inside of barns and hay lofts more than home. One thing that we always practiced though was that barn shoes do not come inside. I know now as an adult that this was something instilled in me for a very important reason: biosecurity. Although we didn’t use terms like that in the late 80s and early 90s (at least not where I was hanging out) I knew that we had to be careful about hand washing, clothing and especially shoes. Here are some tips to reduce biosecurity concerns.

The first principle of everyday biosecurity is having a separate pair of clothes and shoes to wear when you are interacting with your animals. You may wonder why this is important. The answer is simple: pathogens can be easily carried on clothing and shoes. Think of all of the places that you may walk in a single pair of shoes in one day—it’s probably a lot of different places! If you are wearing those same shoes into your barn, you can potentially be transporting disease into your animal facilities. Additionally, if you wear your barn shoes to other places, you could potentially be spreading a disease from your farm to new locations. Clothing acts the same way, as another carrier for disease.

By having a pair of shoes and clothes dedicated to using in the barn when working with your animals, you are greatly reducing the risk of cross-contamination in your area. Remember that clothing and shoes should be washed frequently to help decrease the transmission of disease across your farm.

In addition to wearing separate clothes and shoes in animal areas, another everyday biosecurity practice is proper and frequent handwashing. Our hands have the ability to touch a million different surfaces in a variety of locations each day. Washing our hands properly with soap and water can help reduce the spread of pathogens from various locations to others, animals and ourselves.

Always remember to wash your hands before and immediately after handling your animals. If you have sick animals, remember to care for healthy animals first, wash your hands, and then care for any animals that are new to your farm or sick animals.

Something that people often overlook is that not just the clothing and shoes we wear can have lasting effects on farm animals and ourselves. Using the farm equipment does as well.

Another important biosecurity tip, in addition to those previously outlined, is regularly cleaning and disinfecting the equipment that you use within your facility. In this instance, equipment includes feeders, water tanks, buckets, feed pans, brushes, grooming stands or chutes, floor mats, trailers and many other specie specific items.

To clean and disinfect your equipment, you can use all-purpose detergents and disinfectants that are safe to use with animals. Dish soap is a commonly used detergent and a bleach mixture can be used as a disinfectant at a rate of 1:32, which is 1/2 cup (4 oz.) of bleach to one gallon of water. Take caution when using bleach mixtures; youth should be supervised by an adult. Do not mix bleach with any other chemical.

When washing your equipment, it is important to remove all organic material from every surface of the item. Organic material could include manure, dirt, grass hair, and feed residue. Use a scrub brush to thoroughly scrub the item. When rinsing the item, make sure that the rinse water runs clear before you stop rinsing, to ensure that all of the remaining soap has been removed. Then apply your chosen disinfecting product. Allow the item to dry completely before using.

Another final biosecurity tip, in addition to those previously outlined, is limiting exposure to your animals. There are many ways that you can limit exposure, including not allowing visitors to interact directly with your animals, not permitting visitors to enter your barn and/or not taking your animals off the farm.

Visitors to your farm, especially those coming from another farm, have the potential of carrying pathogens on their clothes, shoes and person. Through both direct and indirect contact, there is a risk of spreading pathogens from farm to farm by people visiting multiple locations. As a result, it is recommended that you do not allow visitors to walk into your barn if not absolutely necessary.

Additionally, transporting animals off the farm to other locations where animals from multiple locations may be co-mingled presents a risk for disease transmission. If it is not necessary, do not take your animals off the farm. If you choose to do so, make sure that you are following proper quarantine protocols and equipment sanitation upon return.

Whether you are operating a backyard homestead of an entire ranch, it is equally as important to follow tips to limit biosecurity risks. For more information about staying safe around animals follow Make Food Safe.