Another farm tests positive for M. bovis

A new farm in Canterbury has tested positive for the cattle disease mycoplasma bovis.

As part of the M. bovis eradication programme, which began in 2018, around 180,000 cattle from more than 270 farms have been culled.

The Ministry for Primary Industries said the latest detection meant there were now five infected properties.

M. bovis programme director

Simon Andrew said the new confirmed infected farm was a dairy grazing operation in Banks Peninsula and it was linked through ownership and animal movements to a confirmed property in the Wakanui area in South Canterbury.

“This brings the current number of confirmed properties to five

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[compared to 40 at the height of the outbreak], and we expect all of these farms to be cleared within the first half of 2023,” he said.

Andrew said MPI was working closely with the affected farmer to depopulate the property before the milking season, to minimise the disruption to the farmer’s business.

Figures from MPI show about $233 million dollars has been paid in compensation to M. bovis-affected farmers, while the cost of the programme, as at June 30, 2022, was $588 million.

The mycoplasma bovis eradication programme is jointly funded by the Government (68 per cent) and industry groups DairyNZ and Beef and Lamb New Zealand (32 per cent).