The province's Federated Farmers section chairmen, in their reports to last week's annual general meeting, all acknowledged the exceptional growing conditions farmers had enjoyed.
However, the bacterial cattle disease that was discovered nearby in late July continued to plague the region.
Dairy section chairman Lyndon Strang said farmers had to consider how it would change the way they worked.
''Of major concern is how tighter on-farm biosecurity will affect the herd-owning sharemilking model we run. Purchasing stock from multiple sources will increase the risk of introducing the disease.
''M bovis herd status will need to be well proven for sharemilkers to maintain the flexibility they currently enjoy to move and progress through multiple farms.
''The traditional dairy support systems that our farms employ with young stock and winter grazing will need to be reviewed and modified - maybe more long-term relationships with graziers bringing all stock classes from a dairy unit together on to one exclusive grazier?
''Biosecurity and exclusivity comes at a cost for both parties and needs to be a consideration.''
Sharemilkers chairman Jared Ross said ''the days of the traditional sharemilking pathway are clearly numbered, if not gone''.
The outbreak revealed problems with the Nait (National Animal Identification and Tracing) system. Mr Strang said all potential disease carriers needed to be tracked.
''Four-day-old calves sold to a calf rearer could be a major vector for the transmission of a disease like M bovis but are not currently covered.
''Transfer of animals between farms that are owned by the same entity within a certain distance are not covered.
''If Nait was being used correctly and covered all animal movements, then MPI's response to M bovis would have been significantly quicker and way more effective.''
Meat and wool chairman Greg Ruddenklau said wallabies and possums were problems for North Otago farmers.
''Possums are rife through the Kakanui hill country at the moment, with no poisoning of possums done in the last four years.''
He said he knew from experience that when possum numbers were high, ''Tb can explode''.
Poor prices for crossbred wool was ''one of the only low points as far as prices go'', high country chairman Ian Anderson said.
''Merino wool is as good as it has been for a long time, [and] mid-micron is still pretty solid.''
Mr Ruddenklau said wool-blended insulation products and carpets were the way forward. He wondered if a wool-based cladding on London apartment building Grenfell Tower could have saved lives.
''DuPont's buying into WNZ (Wools of New Zealand) is a highly significant move on their part and shows a shift in thought to the type of products they want to be involved with.
''There are a few new directions for selling wool evolving and while small, these are showing promise.''
North Otago president Simon Williamson, who attended the Mackenzie Basin Opportunities for Agency Alignment involving five regulatory bodies, said it was ''imperative'' that farmers and landholders were included in any such discussions.
