Mycoplasma bovis compensation tops $50m

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Thirty-three properties are infected with the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis.

That's three more than at the same time last week, according to today's update from the Ministry for Primary Industries.

Canterbury remains the most affected region, with 18 infected properties (IPs). Thirty-four Canterbury properties have been cleared. Elsewhere in the South Island, Otago has six IPs, Southland two and Tasman one. Overall 58 South Island properties have been cleared.

There are six North Island IPs, one in Northland, two in Manawatū and three in Waikato. Ten North Island properties have been cleared.

Seventy-four properties, including the 33 IPs, are on Restricted Place Notice.

Click here to enlarge map

The notice prohibits all unauthorised movements of farm stock and other risk goods on to and off the property to minimise the chance of the disease spreading.

Transport vehicles must follow a cleaning and disinfection process when they leave a restricted place.

MPI said today that as of this week it had paid more than $50 million in compensation to farmers affected by Mycoplasma bovis.

It said if farmers needed assistance with claims, the DBCAT team was available to provide support. They can be contacted on 0800 32 22 81 with more information here.

In May last year, the Government and farming sector leaders agreed to a phased eradication plan, rather than long-term management of the bacterial cattle disease.

The Government estimated the total expected response cost over 10 years to be $870 million, including compensation to farmers, of which it was paying $591 million, the dairy sector $262 million and the beef sector $17.4 million. The full cost of eradication, $886 million, includes the $870 million and $16 million loss of production, borne by farmers.

MPI said 810 claims had been received, of which 504 were completed or with part payments. The value of claims assessed stood at $61.7 million.

Meetings to discuss the Mycoplasma bovis programme's progress will be held in Havelock North and Kaikohe on April 15 and April 30 respectively. The meetings are open to all interested people, and attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions.

Details below:

Monday April 15 – Havelock North
Havelock North Function Centre, 30 Te Mata Road
10.30am to12pm – meeting for affected farmers
12.30pm to 2pm – Public meeting

Tuesday April 30 – Kaikohe
Kaikohe RSA, 158 Broadway
10.30am to 12pm – meeting for affected farmers
12.30pm to 2pm – Public meeting

Meanwhile, cattle and deer owners are being reminded to update NAIT details before the March 31 deadline. MPI said it was mandatory for everyone to get this done.

The NAIT scheme is New Zealand's system for identifying and tracing cattle and deer.

"All you need to do is check and/or update your contact details, herd enterprise - the activity you undertake, such as running a breeding or drystock herd - and identify any other species managed on your property," MPI said in a statement.

"It should take you about 15 minutes, and will help NAIT more accurately identify properties and NAIT locations through a new mapping tool added to the system last month. This will help fix some the common frustrations that was identified by people using NAIT."

MPI said recorded movements had increased by a fifth compared with the previous year. There were also 27 more MPI compliance officers on ground to beef up the robustness of the cattle and deer records contained in NAIT.

MPI also said it had redeveloped its flow charts that map out the Mycoplasma bovis eradication programme process to paint a clearer picture of what to expect. You can find the charts here.