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Opinion
FARMERS WEEKLY – farmersweekly.co.nz – June 20, 2022
Biosecurity systems make gains Alternative View
Alan Emerson
THE news that there is a Foot and Mouth outbreak in Indonesia is disconcerting. Although it provides no immediate threat to New Zealand, Indonesia has been clear of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) since 1986. It also comes at a time when we’re opening our borders, with the increased risk that involves. As we all know NZ makes the vast majority of its income by producing and exporting food and any biosecurity incursion puts that at risk. It is, therefore, good to see an increase of $42.9 million for biosecurity in this year’s budget. We have a good system now but that will make it better. There’s also an additional $68m for Mycoplasma bovis (M bovis) eradication and that, despite a bumpy start, has been a real success story. It hasn’t come cheaply with $635.9m spent so far and 172,422 cattle having been culled. In addition, 267 farms have been confirmed properties with 2342 having been placed under Notice of Direction. The disruption caused by the virus has been considerable. The other alternative was to live with the disease at an original cost
estimate of $1.2 billion. It’s important to remember that M bovis is in most countries and accepted as such. In NZ we decided to eradicate it. It was a brave call and the right one. What has been interesting is the full review of the incursion that has been undertaken. The Government appointed a small team to do that review consisting of Professors Nicola Shadbolt and Caroline Saunders, disease management expert Dr Roger Paskin and Southland farmer, entrepreneur and financier Tony Cleland. I thought they did an excellent job that will assist with future incursions. Their report is available on the Ministry for Primary Industries website and worth a read. Simply, the review points out that the reaction was shambolic at the start of the incursion. In addition, and surprisingly so in my view, it decided that biosecurity systems in place at the start of the incursion weren’t fit for purpose. A comprehensive communications strategy was also lacking. That view was supported by then Federated Farmers president Katie Milne, who was there at the start but was “removed” because she felt she asked too many hard questions. The committee had decided that those funding the exercise, DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, should only be at the governance table. Milne made the point that the money involved was farmers’ whatever way you considered it,
GOT THERE: Professor Nicola Shadbolt was on the team that reviewed New Zealand’s Mycoplasma bovis response, which while having its issues was ultimately a success.
but that point didn’t register. She believed the committee’s actions were “an old boys club shut-out”. That move by the old boys obviously contributed to the shambolic start the review committee found. At the end of the day we did, by whatever route, get rid of M bovis. The only country in the world to do so. M bovis arrived in NZ in July 2017 ahead of the late September 2017 general election that brought a Labour, NZ First Government. The person responsible for picking up the pieces in October 2017 was Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. He’d immediately decided that a disease manageable in the Northern Hemisphere would
create chaos here. We have top producing animals that like top athletes are easily stressed. That would make them vulnerable to M bovis. “The timing wasn’t easy,” O’Connor said. “We came to power and there was little debate. Cabinet accepted my recommendations and we got onto it. “An early decision was to get industry involved and not to leave the decisions to me and officials. We needed farmers on the ground and that was a key part of our success. “It quickly became apparent that the Nait system wasn’t up to scratch. I’m happy where we’re at now. “Biosecurity is where I’m at.
A caper around the bay RECENTLY I attended a great Hawke’s Bay Farm Forestry field day at Te Awanga. It’s not somewhere most of you will have heard of but it’s a small area well worth visiting next time you are in this part of the world. You will have seen it across the bay if you’ve stood on the Napier foreshore and gazed across towards Cape Kidnappers. Cape Kidnappers is also known as Te Kauwae-a-Māui or the fishhook of Māui given its shape. Māori legend has it that Maui’s brothers wouldn’t give him a fishhook or bait, so he made one out of the jawbone of his grandmother, punched himself on the nose and smeared it on the hook for bait and then caught a great fish that turned out to be the North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui. The hook turned into the coastline of Hawke Bay and no fishing story since has ever bettered this one. The eastern route from Napier towards Hastings runs alongside the sea as you pass the long line of Norfolk Pines then you turn towards the Cape at Clive or Mangateretere. As I cross the bridge over the TukiTuki, I like to look down to where this river that runs through
my own part of the world meets the sea. I once walked to the source of the TukiTuki high in the Ruahine Ranges and further up delighted standing on the main divide and being able to send half a piddle towards the Pacific Ocean down this river system and the other half towards the Manawatū catchment which then cuts through the main divide and ends up in the Tasman. Just over the bridge is the small coastal settlement of Haumoana. Many of the shore-based houses here and further along at Te Awanga and Clifton are succumbing to the effects of coastal erosion as the sea takes back for itself up to half a metre a year. When I was a kid, all the land on the other side of the road was farmland but now it is houses,
We drove up through the farm past their latest initiative, a couple of glamping sites onto the hills that gave stunning views across the sea ...
lifestyle blocks, vineyards, and wineries. Not far past Te Awanga the road finishes at Clifton. Several times, I’ve taken guests on my farmbike from there along the beach right around to the cape itself and we’ve climbed up to spend an entrancing time watching the gannets that nest there. This is the largest gannet mainland nesting site in the world and hosts up to 20,000 of them at peak times. The other great attraction from Clifton is the Cape Kidnappers Golf Course. I’ve played there three times, never had a decent score as its so tough, but some of my favourite days ever given the views and the course itself finished off with a hot shower and a cold beer in the wonderful club house. But this day I was here as I’d never had the opportunity to explore Clifton Station. The Gordon family were our hosts and the fifth and sixth generation to be now farming this historic farm. Angus has become a historian and written three popular books which have preserved some of the history of this part of the world.
We drove up through the farm past their latest initiative, a couple of glamping sites onto the hills that gave stunning views across the sea of Hawke Bay to Mahia, Napier, inland Hawke’s Bay and the back of Te Mata Peak. We viewed and discussed their various plantings which as well as the ubiquitous radiata included several species of Eucalyptus as well as a variety of other species. They are steadily fencing off and planting their streams and wetland areas. They have regular help from one of the local high school’s agricultural classes to help with this and other farm chores. I was surprised to see a Kaka fly overhead and the Gordons told us of the spill over of species that originated from Cape Sanctuary next door. We could see the predator fence that protects 2500ha of the end of the cape and has been a huge but beneficial undertaking by the Lowe and Robertson families. Within they are establishing populations of Kiwi, Saddleback, Kaka, Takahe, Tuatara and a host of other species assisted by a massive native planting program. A remarkable commitment to conservation.
We’re continuing to ramp it up. The increase in trade and people movement is equal to an everincreasing risk from a biosecurity perspective. “Lots of New Zealander’s have got in behind the eradication process and I’m really pleased with what we’ve achieved.” He should be. The review makes some additional and reassuring points. It believes the lessons learned from managing the M bovis incursion should be treated as a significant opportunity to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity preparedness. I totally agree. “The panel is confident that the lessons leant from M bovis, if acted upon, will enable NZ to have a far stronger biosecurity preparedness platform for future animal disease incursions.” That’s important. I fully accept that there have been many farmers hugely affected by the M bovis incursion. It must be absolutely gutting to develop a high producing herd and then have to cull it. No amount of money can compensate for that. The fact is no-one invited M bovis here, it arrived. What is fortunate is that we had a Minister who understood the issue and acted, officials who stepped up and a sector that after a rusty start united to irradicate the problem.
Your View Alan Emerson is a semi-retired Wairarapa farmer and businessman: dath.emerson@gmail.com
From the Ridge
Steve Wyn-Harris
After our visit to Clifton Station, we travelled the short distance to the Nilsson’s property of Te Awanga Downs to have lunch at the iconic Clifton Cricket ground. Nestled in a natural amphitheatre, this quirky cricket ground with its gentle slope has seen many fine cricketing battles. The cricket club and community are also combining to plant the waterways to enhance biodiversity and are also seeing spill over of species from the cape as the habitat improves. This contained area of Hawke’s Bay is a terrific example of what can be achieved in terms of conservation when private landowners, the regional council, Government agencies and the community come together with a common goal of making the world a better place.
Your View Steve Wyn-Harris is a Central Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmer. swyn@xtra.co.nz
