increase font size
Federated Farmers are urging holiday makers to be vigilant amid outbreaks of foot and mouth disease overseas.
As Biosecurity New Zealand continues to closely monitor the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in Indonesia, Federated Farmers is urging holiday makers to also be extremely vigilant.
“Travel restrictions have eased and many families are keen to escape our winter for some sun overseas. But if FMD reached our shores it would be devastating for agriculture and our economy,” Federated Farmers vice-president and biosecurity spokesperson Wayne Langford says.
"The FMD virus can live on footwear for 48 hours. Before returning to New Zealand please, please clean your shoes and jandals, or better still, buy cheap footwear while on holiday and dispose of them before you leave, and abide by the one week stand-down before visiting a farm here."
Indonesia reported two outbreaks of FMD to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) on May 9, after being free from it for 30 years.
Bali has approximately 16 million cattle, and now over 20,000 animals have been infected in 16 provinces on four islands – Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan and Lombok.
FMD is also present in Malaysia and China.
“New Zealand has no direct flights to Bali, but MPI advises to not let overseas visitors near stock for a week after they were last near animals or infected places overseas.”
Frontline staff at our border are paying close attention to goods and any travellers arriving in the country with Indonesia as their point of departure.
“Our biosecurity defenders are doing their bit – we need you to do the same,” Langford says.
“Bring back a tan – not Food and Mouth disease.”
A rare weather double-whammy has seen many South Island farmers having to deal with unseasonal snow while still cut off from power supplies after an unprecedented windstorm.
OPINION: Recent media commentary from Southland Federated Farmers has raised concerns among our rural communities, particularly around Environment Southland’s approach to winter grazing inspections and nitrogen reporting. But let’s be clear, much of what’s been said simply doesn’t reflect reality.
OPINION: Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision recently to declare a so-called “nitrate emergency” is laughable.
A shameless political stunt is how Federated Farmers is describing the Canterbury Regional Council decision to declare “a nitrate emergency” on the back of its latest annual groundwater quality survey.
Federated Farmers say Environment Canterbury's decision to declare a 'nitrate emergency' is a shameless political stunt that won't help anyone.
The new majority owner of meat company Alliance has no plans to close any processing plants. Instead, Dawn Meats plans to extract more value from Alliance's existing footprint.
Westpac NZ has announced new initiatives that aim to give customers more options to do their banking in person.
New Zealand red meat exports experienced a 29% increase year-on-year in September, according to the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
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.
BNZ says its new initiative, helping make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier, is being well received by customers and rural professionals.
The head of Fonterra's R&D facility in Palmerston North is set to literally cross the road and become the new vice chancellor at Massey University.
OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…
