Restocking herds after cull could be complicated
Replacing milking herds on dairy farms affected by the Mycoplasma bovis cull could be a complicated and drawn out process.
Southland is home to 12,000 of the 22,000 cattle scheduled to be culled nationally once the Ministry for Primary Industries’ announced cull starts, and once farms have been depopulated and cleaned, farmers will need to start rebuilding their herds.
It will be a priority for farmers to restock so they can minimise the loss of income they would incur if they were to miss a milking season, but doing so will not be without challenges.
An ministry spokesperson said once farms are depopulated, all equipment or materials that have come in contact with the animals, including bedding, fence posts, and machinery, are cleaned and treated with disinfectant, with the process carried out twice to ensure the process has been a success.
The farms are then left free of cattle for 60 days, after which repopulating of the farms can begin.
As dairy farmers may want to delay depopulation until after milking season, it leaves a small window of opportunity to get operations up and running again for the start of the next milking season.
PGG Wrightson Livestock national dairy manager Paul Edwards said there should be sufficient capacity in the market to replace the culled cattle, especially as not all animals being culled are milking herds, with replacement heifers and store animals also affected.
DairyNZ general manager extension Andrew Reid agreed, although timing and quarantine requirements would play a role in how quickly farmers will be able to restock.
There were concerns that an increase in demand for herds and good quality cows could have a significant impact on prices.
Although supply and demand is a normal driver of cow prices, predicted milk price could also influence the demand and hence the price of cows, Reid said.
An increase in demand also had the potential to create a market for some animals that may otherwise have been culled from healthy herds.
Fonterra head of Farm Source for Otago/Southland Mark Robinson said although prices and availability was good now, farmers were somewhat concerned about what might happen over the next couple of months.
‘‘There are concerns around what the price is right now versus what the price is going to be a month from now, and how the compensation is going to work,’’ he said.
Edwards however, was confident that there would not be bidding wars for herds, although this could be influenced by the areas farmers wish to purchase stock from.
This could potentially result in price premiums for herds from certain areas over others.
Good record keeping and NAIT compliance would also be vital, as would proper sale and purchase agreements, which could potentially be neglected as farmers rush to restock.
Returning to pre-cull production levels could take a couple of years, regardless of the quality of the incoming herd.
‘‘It could take up to five years in some instances, if a farmer is breeding their way to replacement. It can be accelerated depending on purchase decisions and if capital is available to purchase animals,’’ Reid said.
Edwards was positive that if the replacement of animals could be like for like to the original herd, the impact would be minimal.
However small the impact on national dairy production, the impact on individual farmers would still be significant, not just financially but also psychologically.
‘‘Farmers care deeply about the animals they have known for years. Losing a herd takes an emotional toll,’’ Reid said.