Unsung heroes under the soil
Much of the scientific work being carried out at the Massey University led regenerative agriculture project, Whenua Haumanu, is below the ground.
The M. bovis Programme is currently a Government Industry Agreement between Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand. It's co-funded, governed and operated by these three organisations.
To ensure the programme continues to adapt to the work that remains ahead and make the most of the significant gains made to date, programme partners back handling over the campaign to a specialist agency under a national pest management plan, says Simon Andrew, Director M. bovis Programme.
Andrew told Rural News that public consultation on this is proposed to take place in late 2023.
He says the governance group has nominated Ospri as the management agency as it has extensive expertise and experience in delivering successful disease eradication programmes over the long term, and an established rural network with strong stakeholder relationships.
Ospri manages the TBfree programme (to eradicate bovine tuberculosis) and the National Animal Identification and Trading (NAIT) programme. The NAIT system provides key information on the location and movement of cattle for both the M. bovi and TBfree programmes.
Andrew says the addition of the M. bovis programme to Ospri also provides the opportunity to realise operational cost efficiencies across programmes and deliver an integrated set of services to farmers.
M. bovis was first found on a farm in south Canterbury in 2017. However, the disease was spreading on farms before that - MPI believes it may have arrived in the country a few years earlier.
The plan to eradicate M. bovis was announced in 2018. It was expected to take 10 years and cost just under $900 million, with the price tag split between the government and industry bodies.
M. bovis is a bacterium found mostly in cattle and occasionally other animals like deer and sheep. It lives in the lungs and respiratory tract, and it’s usually passed on through nose-to-nose or other close contact between cattle.
According to MPI’s latest update, there were six active properties with the disease- all in the South Island.
The programme has completed over 3 million tests and 178,000 cattle have been culled.
Around $233m have been paid out in compensation to farmers. More than 2,800 claims have been paid with 13 claims still pending.
