increase font size
Farmers in and around the Taihape /Hunterville regions of the North Island are being warned to watch for signs of facial eczema (FE).
Local vet and farm consultant Martin Walshe says the area has had more heat and humidity than is normal for this time of year.
Walshe has done spore counts in the last few days and, while these are not at dangerous levels, they are higher than he would expect for this time of the year.
“These are like Waikato conditions. If we get continued heat with moisture through February it’s probably going to be one the threats farmers in this area are going to have to deal with,” he says.
Walshe says FE does not occur annually in his area but there was a major outbreak about three years ago in April which hit farmers badly. He concedes – given that FE is not common in the region – it is hard to justify spending a lot of money on monitoring.
“But given this situation now, farmers should take some spore counts on their properties to see where things are and working out grazing policies,” he told Rural News.
“For example, if they have crops these could be saved so that if FE does occur it will give them breathing space. Then there is the obvious option of using zinc, by spraying or by using a bolus.”
Walshe says farmers may also consider selling store lambs a bit earlier and getting $100 now rather than waiting for prices to rise slightly but facing the risk of losing lambs to FE.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
Reecently Beef + Lamb New Zealand hosted a webinar giving farmers an update on findings from the Sheep Poo study, featuring Dr Cara Brosnahan and vet Ginny Dodunski. This study, which is entering its final year, is a key part of the Eliminating Facial Eczema Impacts (EFEI) programme and is helping build a clearer picture of how FE affects farms nationwide.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), in partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and other sector organisations, has launched a national survey to understand better the impact of facial eczema (FE) on farmers.
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
A breakthrough in the understanding of Facial Eczema (FE) in livestock could bring New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s impact.
With nearly two million underutilised dairy calves born annually and the beef price outlook strong, New Zealand’s opportunity to build a scalable dairy-beef system is now.
Graduates of a newly-updated Agri-Women’s Development Trust (AWDT) course are taking more value than ever from the programme, with some even walking away calling themselves the “farm CFO”.
Meet the Need, a farmer-led charity, says food insecurity in New Zealand is dire, with one in four children now living in a household experiencing food insecurity, according to Ministry of Health data.
Applications have now opened for the 2026 Meat Industry Association scholarships.
Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through a new initiative designed to make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking easier.
OPINION: While farmers are busy and diligently doing their best to deal with unwanted gasses, the opponents of farming - namely the Greens and their mates - are busy polluting the atmosphere with tirades of hot air about what farmers supposedly aren't doing.
OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…
