The Ministry for Primary Industries will be up against a "don't give a damn" attitude from some farmers as it attempts to eradicate the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis, according to a Southland farmer whose farm was one of the first to be infected.
Ben Walling, who farms near Lumsden, told Newstalk ZB host Mike Hosking that he thought the Government made the right call in attempting to eradicate M. bovis.
"Yes, in the long term, I think they have," Walling told Hosking.
Asked if he thought it was possible to eradicate the disease, Walling said:
"Yes, but they (MPI) will need to pull their finger out and be a lot more aggressive in chasing it down," he said.
"If farmers get on side with them - help them - I can't see why not, but if the current attitude by a few of 'we don't give a damn' ... I think they are going to struggle," Walling said.
"A few farmers will think that it's quite farmable - and I think that that is a large part of the problem," he said.