Farm borders and biosecurity bordering: Securing livestock identities in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

In this paper I conceptualise “biosecurity bordering” as the distribution of biosecurity practices throughout the spaces of everyday life. I explore biosecurity bordering through a case study of the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) scheme for tracing livestock movements in Aotearoa New Zealand. NAIT acts as a filtering technology, separating (un)healthy animal bodies and (non)compliant farmers. These practices of “firewall bordering” are spatially distributed across sites that extend inwards and outwards from the farm gate. Animal movements across these sites lead to the emergence of “grey zones”, spaces where livestock become disconnected from their digital records. Furthermore, animals become borders in the NAIT scheme: the connections between ears, tags, and data establish a biometric border that aims to secure livestock identities and control their mobilities. But this can lead to the misidentification of some animals as illegitimate border crossers, rendering them as “abject life” without value and therefore cullable. This paper contributes to an emerging area of literature that draws together critical studies of borders and biosecurity, and points to areas for further research into the intimate experiences, and visceral consequences, of biosecurity bordering.