A Goulburn sheep and cattle farmer has called for an immediate ban on travel to Bali as the region grapples with an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

Indonesian authorities confirmed on Tuesday the highly-contagious livestock disease had been detected in cows in Bali.

It’s left the agriculture industry worried budget holidays to Bali could become an expensive exercise for Australia if the disease is brought back.

Farmer Al McCormack told Mark Levy even one case of the disease could take down an entire herd of cattle.

“In a country such as ours that doesn’t have it, if we were to have an outbreak, any animals that get the disease would have to be euthanised, put down, and all of the animals within a radius of the infection are put down and put in a hole.

“We would be talking about possibly tens of thousands of animals being killed and pushed in a hole to try and stop this disease from spreading.

“The cost to the agricultural industry, and to Australia as a whole, if we get this disease would be [incalculable].”

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt yesterday announced additional bio-security precautions will be ramped up at the Australian border, including biosecurity detector dogs in Darwin and Cairns Airports, additional signage at major airports and expanded social media campaigns.

But Mr McCormack is worried the measures won’t be strong enough to prevent a full-blown agriculture crisis.

“I honestly don’t think it is enough, Mark,” he continued.

“We need to really protect our agriculture industry and I think we should shut down travel to Indonesia until that outbreak is controlled.

“It only takes one person to do the wrong thing, whether that’s on purpose or inadvertently, one person does the wrong thing and it’s here.”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview

Image: Getty