Northland Federated Farmers dairy leader Ashley Cullen joins the fight against Mycoplasma bovis by NAIT tagging calves about to be leave his farm. Photo / John Stone
Northland Federated Farmers dairy leader Ashley Cullen joins the fight against Mycoplasma bovis by NAIT tagging calves about to be leave his farm. Photo / John Stone
Northland has been left out in the cold in New Zealand's multi-million dollar Mycoplasma bovis eradication campaign, according to Northland Federated Farmers.
"We're at the north of New Zealand and it feels like we don't count," Ashley Cullen, Northland Federated Farmers dairy chairman said.
"The eradication campaign seems to havebeen working from the bottom of the country up. Why not work from the top of the country down as well," he said.
"When mycoplasma bovis hits, it has the same impact on farmers anywhere in New Zealand".
Cullen said more effort should be going into resolving Northland's Mycoplasma bovis situation.
New Zealand Mycoplasma bovis programme director Geoff Gwyn said the comments about Northland being "out in the cold" in the disease's New Zealand's eradication campaign were without foundation.
"There is no basis to the suggestion that Northland has less resource than other regions. The eradication effort (in Northland) is being run in the same way as every other part of the country," Gwyn said.
"This is a national eradication effort – the funding is not allocated by region.
"Resource is deployed to those areas were infection is suspected or found and that includes Northland," Gwyn said.
Northland currently has five currently active confirmed Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) properties - the biggest number of farms currently in this category in the North Island.
These farms are under the eradication campaign's strongest "restricted place notice" quarantine category.
Gwyn said the number of at risk and infected properties in Northland is currently high compared with other regions because the infection has been found in the region more recently than in other parts of the country. This meant the process of eradicating the disease from the region was not as far along as in other parts of New Zealand.
Northland has had the highest number of confirmed North Island M. bovis properties since the disease was first identified in New Zealand two years ago - with 14 farms confirmed for M. bovis - nine of those cleared over time.
Mycoplasma bovis free calves on Northland Federated Farmers dairy leader Ashley Cullen's Maungaturoto farm.
Photo / John Stone
The five currently active confirmed Northland properties' strongest "restricted place notice" quarantine category means the slaughter of all animals with confirmed M. bovis, a ban on any cattle being allowed on to or off the property, monitoring plus cleaning and disinfection of any vehicles leaving the farm.
There is currently only one other active confirmed mycoplasma bovis property in the North Island - in Hawke's Bay - also the region where in December 2017 the disease first showed up in the North Island.
The five confirmed Northland farms are in addition to a further 66 in the region also currently under the spotlight for possibly having the disease according to MPI figures from August 12, 2019. Twenty-three of these are under the second strictest "notice of direction" quarantine category (which bans cattle movement off properties) and 43 under "active surveillance" - farms deemed to possibly, rather than definitely, have M. bovis are split into two risk categories: those which are more probably likely to have the disease put under the second-tier "notice of direction" quarantine level, those deemed to be less likely to have the disease in the third-tier "active surveillance" category.
A NAIT tag on a calf's ear at Ashley Cullen's farm Photo / John Stone
The August 12 figures show a 27 per cent increase from the previous week in the number of Northland farms suspected of possibly having M. bovis.
August 6, 2019 figures showed that in addition to the five confirmed Northland farms strongest "restricted place notice" quarantine there were a further 52 in the region also currently under the spotlight for possibly having the disease. Nineteen of those were under the second strictest "notice of direction" quarantine category (which bans cattle movement off properties) and 33 under "active" surveillance. The Ministry for Primary Industries monitors key M. bovis status figures weekly.
"These figures are of concern. I'd like to see more effort being put into resolving Northland's M. bovis situation," Cullen said.
"These show a situation that's having a significant impact on the lives and businesses of Northland farmers and the wider community".
Cullen said the public did not always realise the huge impact M. bovis had on affected farmers.
M. bovis is found in dairy and beef cattle. Its symptoms include abortions, untreatable mastitis in dairy and beef cows, severe pneumonia in up to 30 per cent of infected calves, swollen joints and lameness (severe arthritis) in all ages of cattle.
