Crazy
OPINION: Your canine crusader was truly impressed by the almost unanimous support given by politicians of all stripes in Parliament to the recent passing of legislation for the NZ/EU free trade deal.
The Ministry for Primary Industries has allocated more trained staff to the Mycoplasma bovis crisis.
An extra 50 staff have been trained to help farmers facing movement controls deal with the paperwork and other matters. They will act as ‘case managers’.
Extra staff are also being assigned to help farmers deal with issues on compensation.
Newly appointed science adviser Dr John Roche (ex DairyNZ) has the task of researching new tools for the fight against M. bovis.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says Roche, a PhD in ruminant nutrition from the National University of Ireland, will provide strategic science advice at MPI. His first task will be to head a new M. bovis science strategic advisory group.
“With his background in Ireland, where Mycoplasma bovis is widespread, Dr Roche will be ideally placed to lead this work,” O’Connor says.
O’Connor says little money has been spent internationally on researching M. bovis. The new group will look into testing developments to detect M. bovis in individual cows, grow understanding of the disease and identify opportunities to support the New Zealand eradication.
The battle against M. bovis is now entering a new and critical phase. It could be called ‘agricultural lotto’ because there is no certainty of a prize; it’s a case of being in to win.
It’s likely that more infected farms will come to light as winter and spring arrive and possibly the pessimists will be right and the problem will be too big for eradication.
According to Rabobank, milk production will not immediately be greatly affected although Canterbury and Southland may see production falls. But the cow cull could in the longer term affect production growth.
One thing for certain is that farming under M. bovis, or the threat of it, will be greatly different from how things are now.
The country’s 4200 commercial fruit and vegetable growers will vote from May 14 on a new HortNZ levy.
Meat processor Alliance Group is asking farmer shareholders to inject more capital in order to remain a 100% co-operative.
A vet is calling for all animals to be vaccinated against a new strain of leptospirosis (lepto) discovered on New Zealand dairy farms in recent years.
Dairy
Rural banker Rabobank is partnering with Food Rescue Kitchen on a new TV series which airs this weekend that aims to shine a light on the real and growing issues of food waste, food poverty and social isolation in New Zealand.
Telco infrastructure provider Chorus says that it believes all Kiwis – particularly those in the rural areas – need access to high-speed, reliable broadband.
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