Ian McKelvie: Cow cull the right decision

From left: Ian and Sue McKelvie, National Party leader Simon Bridges, Sarah and Gus Lowry at Orlando Country Club. Photo / supplied

National Party leader Simon Bridges hosted a function at the Lowry family's Orlando Country Club on the outskirts of Palmerston North last week as part of his "Connecting with Communities" tour.

There were more than 250 people there and it was a fantastic atmosphere with plenty of lively discussion and a great question-and-answer session. There were a number of topics raised during the course of the evening including the bail laws, midwives, the Manawatu Gorge, mental health issues, and of course, Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis).

I thought it might be timely to comment on the latter, so here's my take on where we're at with M. bovis.

As it stands almost 40 farms are infected and there are around 300 under Notice of Direction. Last week the Government announced their plan to implement a phased eradication programme to rid New Zealand of M. bovis within the next 10 years. I believe it was the right decision.

The full cost of the programme is projected at $886 million. Of this, $16m is for loss of production and will be borne by farmers, while $870m is the cost of the response,
including farmer compensation. The Government will meet 68 per cent of this cost — DairyNZ and Beef+Lamb New Zealand are responsible for the remaining 32 per cent.

Even though it's a 10-year eradication programme, most of the work will be done in the first two years and that makes sense. In the first instance, this action means culling another 126,000 + cows, following on from the 22,000 already culled.

It's important to note that the alternative option was to accept M. bovis and instead come up with a long-term management plan. It's estimated that this would have cost the dairy and beef industries $1.3 billion in lost production over the next 10 years, not to mention ongoing losses across our farming sector.

Together the dairy and sheep and beef industries are New Zealand's single biggest export earner by far – and New Zealand needs them to keep our economy going.

Ian McKelvie

To do nothing and to stare down the barrel of over $1b in lost production over the next 10 years would be disastrous. Not just for our farmers and rural and provincial New Zealand but for everyone from agri-supply stores to local contractors, rural schools and small business owners to processors, bankers, lawyers and accountants. Its effects would certainly spread far and wide.

Last week's decision of phased eradication over two years will bring a significant level of certainty to farmers and businesses around the country. I'm pleased a decision has finally been made and that an agreement has also been struck to share the costs of this response between industry and Government.

M. bovis has caused enormous stress and anxiety for farming families. The financial and emotional toll on farmers has been significant, so it's reassuring to see the Government has responded to pressure to speed up the compensation process and will now make interim payments within two weeks of stock being culled.

The fact everyone now has a clear pathway forward, on an issue that is bigger than politics, is great. While we can't be sure the strategy will work, it certainly beats not even trying.