Dairy farmers urged to participate in 2026 Levy vote
DairyNZ chair Tracy Brown is urging dairy farmers to participate in the 2026 Levy vote, to be held early next year.
“To come up with a fair approach we have been making use of an independent panel,” he told Dairy News in a joint statement from both industry-good bodies.
“We have had initial advice and are providing feedback. Once the process has finalised, a recommendation will go to our respective boards and be shared with farmers.
“Given this is a sensitive and important process, we can’t comment on the specifics until it has been agreed and approved by our respective boards.”
The cost of the eradication programme is reckoned at $886 million over 10 years. MPI says $16m of that is loss of production and will be borne by farmers, while $870m is the cost of the response, including compensation.
The Government will pay 68% of that and the two levying bodies, DairyNZ and BLNZ, will pay 32% (about $278m).
But exactly how it will be split between them remains under discussion. Earlier this year dairy industry sources said an 80/20 split between dairy farmers and beef farmers would be fair. However, beef farmers were pushing for a 90/10 split, pointing out that dairy farms are at the centre of the outbreak.
