Good farm records helping keep M. bovis at bay
Good records on cattle movement have helped the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) clear another farm impacted by Mycoplasma bovis.
Mycoplasma bovis can spread from cattle to other farm animals, says an expert.
Retired Lincoln University professor Keith Woodford told the Federated Farmers dairy conference in Wellington that M. bovis isn't just a risk for New Zealand cattle.
He says in a case documented in Austria M. bovis jumped from a cattle herd into pigs and in the following years found its way into a dairy herd grazing in an alpine region.
A lesson learned from the M. bovis outbreak was NZ’s lack of awareness: MPI had no programme in place to deal with it.
Woodford says the MPI executive in charge of the response team “had to go and google it to see what M. bovis was all about”.
“Everyone has been caught out including the veterinary profession.”
The Commerce Commission says connectivity options for rural New Zealanders are front-of-mind as it begins a formal investigation into the future of the copper network.
Grand Finalists have been selected, all regional finals have concluded, and the journey towards the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final is underway.
Hopes of NZ sheepmeat prices picking up anytime soon in the country's key export market of China looks highly unlikely.
Regional councils are welcoming the certainty for councils in today’s Resource Management Act (RMA) announcement by the Government.
ASB says the decision to sign on to the AgriZeroNZ joint venture came out of a wish to be a part of the solution.
Federated Farmers says changes announced to the Resource Management Act today mark the end of the war on farming.
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