‘Peace of mind’ in big cattle cull

About 4000 cattle worth up to $8 million will be slaughtered to halt the spread of the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis.

The Ministry for Primary Industries said it hoped to minimise the risk of the disease spreading from the seven known farms where it has been detected.

Five properties are owned by rich lister couple Aad and Wilma van Leeuwen, and are located in the South Canterbury/north Otago region. A small number of cattle on the other two farms, which included a lifestyle block in Rangiora, had already been culled.

Mycoplasma is common globally in cattle but was discovered for the first time in New Zealand in July, prompting thousands of tests and raising questions about how it came into the country, which have not yet been answered.

MPI said affected farmers can apply for compensation for verifiable losses relating to MPI exercising legal powers.

Some of the farmers are sharemilkers working on Van Leeuwen farms, among them immigrants. MPI said it did not know exactly how many were affected but they were being looked after and able to access welfare benefits if needed.

The move was welcomed by Federated Farmers, Dairynz and Beef+lamb NZ.

Labour’s primary industries spokesman Damien O’connor attacked the National Government over its slow response.

‘‘It was inevitable and arguably too late, but political considerations overruled biosecurity. The image of cows being slaughtered just before the election was something National didn’t want to be seen,’’ O’connor said.

Federated Farmers president Katie Milne said the decision to destroy the stock was the only option which would ensure peace of mind for the rest of New Zealand’s dairy and beef farmers.

‘‘We recognise the disease has come at a significant emotional cost to the affected farming families and their animals. The process of culling whole herds will be very stressful for the people concerned.’’

MPI’S director of response Geoff Gwyn said that since late July it had carried out tens of thousands of tests.

‘‘The only positive results for the disease have been on seven infected properties, leading us to be cautiously optimistic that we are dealing with a very localised area of infection around Oamaru,’’ Gwyn said.

The slaughter would not happen immediately and would be a ‘‘big logistical exercise’’. The farms would then be de-contaminated and ‘‘re-populated’’.

The precise value of the cattle is difficult to determine because of the mix of dairy cows (worth over $2000 each), bulls, heifers and calves.