MPI defends cost of new biosecurity lab
The head of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) biosecurity operation, Stuart Anderson, has defended the cost and the need for a Plant Healht and Environment Laboratory (PHEL) being built in Auckland.
The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) has paid out almost $124 million in compensation for claims related to the cattle disease, Mycoplasma bovis.
In its latest stakeholder update on the disease, MPI says almost 1500 claims were paid and completed: 126 claims are being processed with 23 working days on average to pay a new claim.
To date there have been 218 confirmed cases of M. bovis: 166 in the South Island and 52 in the North Island. Of these, 193 properties have been cleared while 25 remain active.
As at December 2019, over 130,000 animals have been culled. Over 1.1 million tests have been completed on farms.
M. bovis was first identified in New Zealand in July 2017. In May 2018, MPI announced the Government, dairy and beef industries had agreed to eradicate M. bovis from New Zealand.
New Zealand Young Farmers (NZYF) has launched a new initiative designed to make it easier for employers to support their young team members by covering their NZYF membership.
Sheep infant nutrition maker Blue River Dairy is hoping to use its success in China as a springboard into other markets in future.
Plentiful milk supplies from key producer countries are weighing down global dairy prices.
The recent windstorm that cut power to dairy farms across Southland for days has taught farmers one lesson – keep a generator handy on each farm.
The effects of the big windstorm of late October will be felt in lost production in coming weeks as repair crews work through the backlog of toppled irrigation pivots, says Culverden dairy farmer Fran Gunn.
With the current situation in the European farm machinery market being described as difficult at best, it’s perhaps no surprise that the upcoming AgriSIMA 2026 agricultural machinery exhibition, scheduled for February 2026 at Paris-Nord Villepinte, has been cancelled.

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