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.
BNZ says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through an innovative new initiative that helps make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier.
LIC chief executive David Chin says meeting the revised methane reduction targets will rely on practical science, smart technology, and genuine collaboration across the sector.
Lincoln University Dairy Farm will be tweaking some management practices after an animal welfare complaint laid in mid-August, despite the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation into the complaint finding no cause for action.
A large slice of the $3.2 billion proposed capital return for Fonterra farmer shareholders could end up with the banks.
Opening a new $3 million methane research barn in Waikato this month, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay called on the dairy sector to “go as fast as you can and prove the concepts”.
New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.

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