Call to bottle our best beef over disease risk

The Beef Council wants New Zealand to create a bank of frozen cattle embryos as insurance against foot-and-mouth disease.

Council chairman and Northland farmer Peter Packard fears it is only a matter of time before the economically devastating disease breaches our borders, forcing a British-style slaughter.

"Our industry should not take this [threat] lightly. We should flush eggs from our superior cows, fertilise them in-utero and put them on ice."

The number of embryos stored could range from a thousand for such beef breeds as Simmental to 3000 for the more populous Angus.

The embryo bank could also help out other countries affected by stock disease, making New Zealand "the genetic shopping basket for the world," said Mr Packard.

His plan received a guarded response from industry bodies. Meat NZ chief executive Neil Taylor welcomed the idea but said action would depend on costs.

"It's certainly an interesting proposal and when you look at the devastation occurring in the UK at present, there must be some good genetic material being lost there."

His board was likely to discuss the plan at its next meeting.

Phil Beatson, chief executive of the Holstein Friesian Association, said losing top dairy cows would be a "double-whammy" and Mr Packard's idea seemed a good precautionary measure.

But Professor Grant Guilford of Massey University's veterinary school, rejected an embryo bank as a national strategy.

He said the costs would be high and importing animals from Australia would be cheaper.

Herald Online feature: Foot-and-mouth disaster

UK outbreak map

World organisation for animal health

UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

The European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease

Pig Health/Foot and Mouth feature

Virus databases online