M. bovis cull the ‘only way’ – O’Connor

He says farmers facing their animals’ slaughter are in a terrible situation, but in the end it’s a “hard decision that had to be made if we are to eradicate this disease”.

The numbers will set a New Zealand record. 

Other such slaughter occurred in 1978 when 1900 sheep were suspected of having scrapie during research on Mana Island, and in February 1981 when 880 pigs were killed at Temuka because of suspected foot and mouth disease.

O’Connor says because of this M.bovis, all industry-good organisations and farmers must change their approach to biosecurity. The cost to taxpayers and the country is huge and NZ cannot afford a repeat, he says.

“This is a very serious event; I don’t think we have had such a cull in the history of NZ agriculture, but we are doing it to eradicate the disease,” he told Rural News. 

“We have been working through this with the industry and many people have called for a cull.... We have tested all the herds and finally got to a position where we can say it is not endemic in NZ.” 

So far dairy cattle in five herds have been slaughtered, but this latest decision will see 22 more herds slaughtered. Thirty more farms are on ‘restricted notice’ while tests are done and other herds may need slaughtering.   

O’Connor reiterates there are no food safety or quality issues with animals infected with M.bovis and they can be slaughtered at freezing works, graded as normal and mainly exported. 

“We have to make sure we can eliminate the risk of any further infections from those properties. The farmers are limited in what they can do with the animals,” he says. 

“Ultimately they can only send them to slaughter, but some have kept on milking and that has been producing ongoing income for the farmers. 

“But we have moved quickly to slaughter these cows to avoid the risk of movement from the farms during the winter and any further spread of M bovis.”

With their animals gone, farms must be ‘cleaned’ before they can be restocked. O’Connor is taking advice from a technical group on this and says it may be six weeks – probably longer – before animals are allowed back on infected farms.

“This will be devastating for many people who own the farms or who own the animals. The Biosecurity Act ensures they get fair compensation but it still doesn’t mean the people who have bred animals will not be really upset at losing their stock. 

“I also understand the position of staff, such as sharemilkers on some of the farms. The compensation part of the Act says that a person should be no better or worse off, so loss of income is able to be claimed under the compensation provisions of the Biosecurity Act.”

However, O’Connor concedes it’s a complex process and may take longer than some people would like. 

Industry support

Farmers widely support the decision to cull 22 more herds. 

DairyNZ says it supports MPI’s decision to cull all cattle on properties infected with M. bovis. Although this is a hard step for farmers, it is an important move towards eradicating the disease from NZ.

Carol Barnao, of DairyNZ, says this is never an easy decision to make. Removing these animals from the 28 infected properties is considered and sensible, but nobody should underestimate the effect on farmers losing herds they’ve managed for years. 

Kimberly Crewther, of the Dairy Companies Association NZ (DCANZ), welcomes MPI’s confidence that M. bovis is not well established in NZ. The national surveillance has required huge effort and DCANZ is pleased to see it contributing the information necessary for making response decisions.

Beef + Lamb NZ says MPI’s cull decision gives clarity to farmers living with uncertainty. 

BLNZ spokesman Dave Harrison acknowledges the very trying few months endured by the affected farmers -- restricted from trading, bearing extra costs, and suffering worry and anxiety about the future. 

Federated Farmers also supports the decision to cull: president Katie Milne says this will be a huge relief for all drystock and dairy farmers.