American experts confirmed for RASC conference
Two top American agricultural speakers will be joining the expert line-up at the 26th Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth (RASC) conference in Brisbane next month.
RASC will be hosted by the RNA from October 20-24 at the Royal International Convention Centre (Royal ICC) at the Brisbane Showgrounds. It will be opened by RASC president Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal (Princess Anne) and will showcase some of the world’s top agricultural experts.
Marla J. Calico, CFE from the International Association of Fairs and Expositions, will hold a workshop focusing on public health matters including the risk of E.coli O157:H7 and H3N2v.
This session will provide the latest updates on incidents (in the United States, Canada and Australia) and the challenges these bring to agricultural shows, plus recommendations from public health officials and animal health veterinarians.
James D. Tucker, President, CEO and General Counsel of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions will be joined by Marla J. Calico for a workshop about consumer protection, focusing on E.coli
***UPDATE***
One of the key parts of the workshop is time when the presenters will sit down with you for a one-on-one review of your animal facilities and operations (livestock shows, petting zoos, birthing centres, etc.) and you will share with them your existing protocols/procedures (such as hand wash stations, signage, cleaning, etc.). To make this part of our time most valuable to you, it is highly recommended that you bring the following with you to the session:
- Overall map of the fairgrounds/showgrounds (to see where the animals are housed in relation to the rest of the grounds)
- Any specific barn maps (or those of petting zoo, birthing centre, etc.) that you have for your facilities (If you can bring maps that you can write on, that will be even better!)
- Knowledge of operations in these areas.
- If work in this area is not your primary role on staff or board, please ask someone from your fair/show before coming! Be sure you have as much information as possible about where current hand washing stations, hand sanitizing stations, signage, manure pits are located as well as some concept of the flow of traffic (both human and animal) through these areas.
If there are multiple attendees from the same fair/show or facility, you will all meet with one of the presenters as a group.
