SPECIAL REPORT - TUBERCULOSIS
A hell of a year
TO CATCH TB
The last two years have been stressful on Hawke’s Bay farmers, with a tuberculosis outbreak, Covid-19 lockdowns and severe droughts. Tutira farmer Campbell Prendergast had one R2 test positive for TB in 2019 and has since changed his entire operation. He talked to Sheryl Haitana about the realities and frustrations. Campbell Prendergast has been left questioning where his levy money has gone and whether Ospri has enough funding to do the job properly. He has been disappointed with the followthrough from Ospri on pest control since the TB outbreak in 2019. He says they haven’t done as much pest control as they said they would. “I think multiple things have fallen over. There should be more intensive pest control and more testing.” Campbell also feels let down by the organisations he pays levies to, DairyNZ and Beef & Lamb NZ, who are shareholders in Ospri, and should be accountable for ensuring good pest control and testing is taking place, he says. “I shouldn’t have to be at these meetings beating the table, they should be doing it. It’s been two and a half years and we still have infected herds, and all they keep saying is we are on track to be TB-free by 2026. “I feel like farmers have been doing everything they can do, with Nait recordings and testing. “But it feels like the wheels are turning, it’s costing money, but the job is still not being done.” Ospri were too slow on implementing pest control after the first lot of infections, Campbell says. Ospri are only just gaining access to two new blocks - one in the Waipunga area and the other in Esk Valley, which haven’t had pest control for more than 10 years. Ospri just keeps changing personnel and hiring new communications people that just don’t communicate well enough with farmers, he says. The Prendergast farm at Tutira, 50km north of Napier, has been in the family since Campbell’s 56
Above: Campbell is frustrated by the slow movement from Ospri to get on top of pest control in the area.
grandfather received it through a ballot after the Second World War. The farm switched from dairy to sheep and beef when the wool prices were good, fully converting back to dairy in 2008. Campbell moved back to the family farm when his parents converted after working in forestry management for 15 years. He has a 20-hectare runoff which borders Lake Tutira, surrounded by forestry which has been getting harvested. That is where his rising two year heifers were grazing when one was infected with TB. The herd has always had a C10 status (clear of TB) Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021
