Farmers urged not to be complacent about TB
New Zealand's TBfree programme has made great progress in reducing the impact of the disease on livestock herds, but there’s still a long way to go, according to Beef+Lamb NZ.
Plan governance group chairman Chris Kelly says it proposes that the TB Plan should focus on eradicating bovine tuberculosis from farmed cattle and deer within about ten years.
"It will take longer to clear TB from possums and other vectors in remote back country, but it is important that our farming sector be rid of this serious disease as fast as possible," he says.
The group's final proposal for changes was given to the Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy this month. The changes are intended to advance the progress made by OSPRI under the current TB Plan.
Kelly says his group considered a range of technical and scientific advice, and believes the eradication of TB from New Zealand is feasible and economically justifiable.
The proposed changes to the TB Plan were put to farmers, local communities and other stakeholders in June and July this year. About 400 submissions were received on the draft plan proposal, and the governance group took them into account in its final proposal to Guy.
