Farmers urged to log stock movements within timeframe
Farmers need to play their part to stop tuberculosis in cattle and deer spreading further across Otago, Ospri says.
Speaking at a Beef + Lamb biosecurity workshop in Becks, Ospri Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes regional partner Laura Lake said there were 20 herds infected with tuberculosis in New Zealand, as of Wednesday last week.
Of those, five cases were in Otago — two were in deer herds in the wider Dunedin area and three were in Upper Clutha. These infections were in two cattle herds and a deer herd. Of the five active cases in Otago, three of the infections were from wildlife, probably possums due to their close interactions with cattle and deer.
The other two cases had been farms where the disease had been detected before and had returned.
Deer and cattle on most farms in Otago were being tested annually for tuberculosis.
Every carcass at the meatworks was checked for the disease.
"Some infected properties have been found this way," Mrs Lake said
Most of Otago was considered a high-risk area for the disease.
"Otago is going to be a risk area for some time because of the risk of the wildlife."
Ospri had deployed pest contractors in these areas including the use of 1080 poison. When a map of the control areas was shown, a farmer asked why Ospri was not targeting greater areas surrounding infected farms.
Mrs Lake said Ospri was only controlling possums identified with the disease.
"We are not a possum control company, we are a Tb eradication company."
Other animals being controlled included ferrets and pigs.
Farmers must register the movement of cattle and deer with Nait to help manage the spread of the disease.
Nait tags also allowed traceability of an animal "from paddock to plate" to market the meat overseas and to meet expectations of trade agreements.
In a week in August 2021, more than 460,000 cattle and deer registered with Nait were moved across New Zealand.
Mrs Lake said she was given the names of farmers who had registered for the workshop and she had looked at their Nait accounts.
A farmer at the workshop joked "at least, she hasn’t locked the door".
Mrs Lake said a "major theme" was farmers taking longer than 48 hours to confirm a movement, both sending and receiving, of deer and cattle.
"I know 48 hours is annoying, I hear that a lot."
The deadline was imposed because it was believed if foot-and-mouth disease was in New Zealand, there would be less than 48 hours to trace it and be able to "front foot it" because it was one of the most quickly transmitted animal diseases.
"Please, please try and do your recordings within 48 hours."
When farmers bought Nait tags they were registered to their Nait account.
The second biggest issue was farmers failing to register their Nait tags to an animal and "turning the tag on".
"You have to do this before they are sent from your property.
"Do not let animals leave your property without it being registered or MPI will come after you."
The "road to eradication" was to remove tuberculosis from the possum population by 2040 and for it to be out of New Zealand a decade later.
