Biosecurity award for M. bovis work
A small company which mobilised veterinarians around the country to deal with Mycoplasma bovis was one of the winners in this year's Biosecurity Awards, held at Parliament.
The Government’s Mycoplasma bovis programme director Simon Andrew says the agriculture sector has continued to make significant progress over 2022.
In his final update for 2022, Andrew says they are on track to clear all confirmed infection which is isolated to a sole pocket in the Wakanui area.
By the end of January 2023, depopulation is scheduled to be completed on all six currently known Active Confirmed properties, and farms covered by the Wakanui Controlled Area Notice will have been destocked, he says.
“Clearing all confirmed cases of infection is an important milestone in the eradication effort.
“Once infection is removed from all active confirmed properties, the Programme will move into a new phase of eradication during which the focus will be gathering evidence that M. bovis is absent from New Zealand.”
Background surveillance (Bulk Tank Milk and National Beef and Drystock Cattle Surveillance) will be key in this phase of the programme, he adds.
It will involve collecting several years of surveillance data in the absence of finding infection to provide confidence that M. bovis is no longer present on New Zealand farms, he says.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.