Wednesday, 17 October 2018 08:55

M. bovis could have been handled better

Written by 
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.

The Government has acknowledged that all was not right in MPI’s handling of the M. bovis crisis.

Last week Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern admitted things could have been done better. 

She and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor unveiled new initiatives designed to make it easier for farmers to claim compensation and to give them more support.

These include an online tool to calculate milk production losses, a simpler form to lodge a compensation claim and the funding of a DairyNZ/Beef + LambNZ compensation assistance team to help farmers with their claims.

Of NZ’s 24,000 farms, 74 have been infected with M. bovis and 36 destocked and cleared of the disease.

Ardern says the new initiatives will help farmers and their families hit by the disease to move on and get back in business. 

Eradicating the disease is still a priority.

More like this

Editorial: Outstanding Performance

OPINION: The latest update from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) on the state of NZ's primary sector paints a positive picturee about its performance over the past 12 months.

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Taking On Winnie

OPINION: No one messes around with Winston Peters, more so in a general election year.

Full of Surprises

OPINION: Staying on Federated Farmers, this week's annual general meeting in Auckland is shaping up to be an interesting one.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter