Minister blasts NAIT

His comments come as the deepening crisis over the spread of Mycoplasma bovis causes problems not only for dairy farmers, but also sharemilkers, winter grazers and others in the dairy and beef sectors. 

O’Connor told Rural News that NAIT has not been enforced as it should have been. He says clearly animal identification and traceability is at the core of any good biosecurity system.

“It’s hard to blame individual farmers given the lack of clear direction from industry leaders and organisations. This system is essential for New Zealand as a food producing nation into the future.” 

O’Connor says it’s “almost a crisis” because M.bovis is a significant disease NZ does not want nationwide. The focus has been on identifying the spread and containment of the disease, then its eradication. 

O’Connor has met with many winter dairy grazers and sharemilkers, and sympathises with their dilemma caused by the spread of M.bovis. He hopes the results of bulk milk testing will be available soon. 

But some people are saying this will be too late for many.

O’Connor has seen a draft report on M.bovis, due to be made public in a couple of weeks, which he says identifies a number of issues. 

“These range from problems right at the top, down to what happens in the yards on the farm.” He says improvements are needed in all areas.

He rejects claims that it is taking time to sort out problems in a system that started running five years ago.

“There’s been plenty of time to run a good system. It’s glaringly obvious that adherence to NAIT and a functioning animal identification and traceability system is a given for farmers.”

O’Connor says changes will be made, education given and there will be clear signals that non-compliance with NAIT will not be tolerated.