Canterbury and Southland dairy farmers under active surveillance for Mycoplasma bovis should get support and work with their grazier to develop a plan as they send stock to winter grazing, says DairyNZ.

South Canterbury rural consultant Sarah Barr says there is a huge degree of anxiety on the ground over the surge in the Mycoplasma bovis eradication effort.

Farmers affected by Mycoplasma bovis need help and support, but MPI treats them as guilty parties, claims Mid-Canterbury Federated Farmers dairy chair Chris Ford.

Ashburton District mayor Donna Favel says a new group is being formed to help bring together the council and local agricultural and health authorities in response to MPI’s ‘surge’ in the Mycoplasma bovis eradication programme.

Only by culling cows would New Zealand achieve the methane emission targets set by the Government unless there was a major breakthrough in science, says Federated Farmers national vice-president Andrew Hoggard.

A Mid Canterbury farmer who has already lost his dairy herd to Mycoplasma bovis believes MPI is repeating the mistakes it made last year.

Farmers in the district most affected by Mycoplasma bovis are up in arms at the Ministry for Primary Industry’s news that it will boost its efforts to eradicate the disease.

Sheep and beef farmers are being asked to pay a biosecurity levy of $2/head of cattle, an increase of $1.55/head on the original levy.

An update meeting on Mycoplasma bovis in Hamilton earlier this month, threw up several questions, not least where were all the farmers?

Tax implications for farmers receiving big Mycoplasma bovis compensation payments is one of the issues farmers are raising in meetings now underway NZ-wide.