DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ wrap up M. bovis compensation support after $161M in claims
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is welcoming a huge drop in the number of farms under active surveillance for Mycoplasma bovis.
The most recent figures show just 327 properties under active surveillance versus 589 just a week earlier.
The number has consistently been at least 500 – and as high as 640 – since the so-called surge in May.
MPI says the 40% drop is due to several reasons, firstly that many farms have recently completed surveillance and been found clear.
It adds that farms are also starting to get through sampling and testing quicker, due to the changes in sampling requirements to only one negative round for most management groups.
MPI also claims a new data management system is providing more timely and accurate reporting.
The total number of confirmed infected properties now stands at 195 – with 176 cleared and 19 still active. 310 farms are now under a notice of direction.
MPI says it has slaughtered 117,591 animals and paid out compensation of $98.6 million from 1156 claims either completed or partly paid from 1486 claims received so far.
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.
Philip and Lyneyre Hooper of the Hoopman Family Trust have tonight been named the Taranaki Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.

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