Wednesday, 27 June 2018 11:55

Farmers seek info at Fieldays

Written by  Peter Burke
Nita Harding, DairyNZ. Nita Harding, DairyNZ.

Dairy farmers at Fieldays went searching for information on Mycoplasma bovis.

DairyNZ, in the pavilion, were ready for them with a booklet about the disease. 

Dr Nita Harding, DairyNZ’s veterinary technical policy advisor, says DNZ had earlier live-streamed a farmers meeting near Auckland and this is now on Facebook. And a technical person on the site answered questions about M.bovis and biosecurity in general.

“Many farmers have called our 0800 number and used our info@dairynz email address so we got a steady stream of queries. These are answered either by our 0800 person who’s very knowledgeable, or… by the technical people in DairyNZ.”

The questions are a mix of technical and general, much in response to information provided by MPI. Farmers in areas where farms are infected are naturally concerned and ask first, what does this mean for me?

“There is a lot of rumour out there so if we can get the right information out to farmers it helps everyone understand what’s going on. It gives them confidence and removes some of the stigma. 

“M.bovis is not a highly infectious disease; you are not going to pick this up by talking to your neighbour. 

“It’s the cows, not the farmer, who have the disease and the children coming to school are not going to bring it to school.”

Harding says farmers whose properties are diseased need all possible support from their community.

More like this

DairyNZ plantain trials cut nitrate leaching by 26%

DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.

Featured

Every vote will count - Alliance chair

An independent report, prepared for Alliance farmer shareholders is backing the proposed $250 million joint venture investment by Irish company Dawn Meats Group.

John Deere technician's record hat trick

Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Amazone unveils flagship spreader

With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at…

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter