Nationwide rallies to be held to protest live export
As the new government considers lifting the ban on live exports, protestors are set to demonstrate against the policy.
The discovery of Mycoplasma bovis on a sheep and beef property near Motueka was entirely predictable, said Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.
The farm is in his electorate of West Coast Tasman.
O’Connor says the M. bovis situation is what they expected – more cases being identified.
“While we are still finding new cases they are all connected by one strain, and as long as that’s the case we can still eradicate the disease,” he says.
MPI says the infected farm was identified by tracing animals from known infected farms. It won’t name the infected farm but says neighbours will be notified.
M. bovis response incident controller Catherine Duthie says the new infected property was expected given the intensive tracing work by MPI.
“We know this disease is spread by contact between animals and movement of stock, as is the case here.
“An obvious question will be ‘why has it taken this long to find this property?’
“The answer to that lies in the nature of this particular bacteria. It is a tricky thing to find and often hides within an animal, lying dormant and not revealing itself for weeks or months. This is why we test multiple times using multiple kinds of tests,” she says.
Duthie says the discovery of more infected properties is not because the disease is now spreading beyond infected farms. She says all known-infected farms, or farms they suspect may be positive, are in quarantine lockdown and risk goods including animals are not allowed off them.
Meanwhile O’Connor says the setting up of a large technical advisory group to assist MPI deal with M. bovis is to ensure they the best possible advice.
“We are all the time seeking the most up-to-date knowledge from international experts and are assessing the situation.”
O’Connor says the first of the bulk milk tests to find other cases of M. bovis have now begun. Six test samples will be taken from every farm and the final results will be known by November.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.
OPINION: A mate of yours truly wants to know why the beef schedule differential is now more than 45-50 cents…
OPINION: Your canine crusader understands that MPI were recently in front of the Parliamentary Primary Sector Select Committee for an…