M. bovis - we need to be vigilant
From November 1, 2023, Ministry for Primary Industries’ Mycoplasma bovis Eradication Programme has been contracted out to disease management agency OSPRI, as it enters a long-term surveillance phase.
OSPRI Chief Executive Michelle Edge will leave the organisation in mid-September.
Edge says that over the last three years, the company has achieved significant outcomes.
This includes a complete restructure and change management and business improvement programme.
She says OSPRI achieved significant developments in terms of its focus on its core programmes, TBfree and NAIT, the development of new initiatives and the confirmation of its Strategic Plan, despite the significant funding reduction.
Chairman Jeff Grant says Edge has made a big contribution to the reshaping of OSPRI since joining the company.
This included a restructuring of the TBfree program and dealing with $20 million reduction of funding for TBfree.
“This required downsizing the business to better fit the requirements of risk based testing and the eventual eradication of TB in New Zealand. Michelle has played a major role in also ensuring the NAIT Review was completed which will see changes implemented that give a more usable system for the Industry and confidence in providing the intended outcomes when it was first set up,” Grant says.
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.
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