‘Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t’

Cambridge dairy farmer Garry Reymer says the Government and primary sector leaders have made the right choice.

“If you’re going to spend money either way, have a crack at it,” Reymer said.

However, he thought the estimated cost of $886 million was “massively conservative”.

“The decision is almost a nonevent — it was going to cost either way. You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t,” said Reymer, who farms near a property recently identified as positive as carrying the Mycoplasma bovis bacteria.

Ashburton dairy farmer John Jefferson, who farms 560 cows in the hot zone where many of the 37 infected properties are located, was “a little surprised” and thought the decision-makers could be in for disappointment.

Farmers in the South Island suspected the decision was being driven by North Island farmers, Jefferson said. Infected properties in the North Island are so far rarer than in South Island.

“I think maybe they’re [the decision-makers] optimistic. It is a biosecurity breach so they have the powers. Everyone down here has been reasonably keen to manage it instead of eradication drive.”

He questioned whether healthy cattle showing up as carrying the bacteria organism were simply developing immunity to the disease, which some in the sector believe has been in New Zealand for years but undiagnosed before last July’s outbreak at Waimate.

Federated Farmers dairy chairman and Waikato farmer Chris Lewis was slightly stunned by the announcement when approached for comment, despite knowing what it would be as a consulted industry leader.

“Nothing prepares you for seeing the hard details and seeing the scale of it.”

Lewis, who has handled hundreds of calls from worried dairy farmers in recent months, said the decision meant a “big challenge ahead for us all”.

“It’s not going to be easy and I acknowledge a few farmers won’t be very happy at all. But a few will be.”