M. bovis payments hit $6.1m
The Ministry for Primary Industries has paid out $6.1 million to Southland farmers affected by the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis, but that number is expected to climb.
A total of 83 claims have been received by MPI to-date, with a total value of $9.6m, of which 42 have been paid in part or full.
M. bovis-affected farmers in Southland have received $6.1m in payments as part of the total $30.5m paid across the whole country to-date.
Some claims are pending finalisation of assessment or approval.
Ministry for Primary Industries Invercargill regional controller Andre Nobbs said the last infected property found in Southland was in January.
Since the disease was discovered in July 2017, there have been 73 properties in Southland under movement restrictions. Of those farms, 51 have had their restrictions lifted.
Thirteen of the infected farms in Southland have been cleared and were in the process of replacing stock, he said. There is only one infected farm that MPI is actively dealing with.
More could be identified in the future as there were other properties on regulatory controls and under surveillance at the moment.
The main focus for Southland was helping farmers get back to business and helping those whose farms were under active surveillance, he said.
Farms were put under surveillance if MPI had connected them to an infected property or a property under suspicion of having M. bovis.
Currently, 54 farms were under surveillance. No movement controls were placed on these properties, which could affect compensation eligibility creating uncertainty for farmers, Nobbs said.
‘‘We work very hard to ensure they are under active surveillance for as short a time as possible.’’
These properties had a low risk of having the disease as they had not received animals or milk from an infected property, Nobbs said. Most were ruled out of the response without having to go on to movement controls.
Many Southland farmers had been part of the M. bovis response since the start, and contributed along the way, he said. ‘‘Although this has been a difficult challenge, they remain champions for the eradication programme nationally.’’
Southland farmers were relying on every farmer nationally to put 100 per cent effort into the program for it to succeed, he said.
Last week, MPI held farmer workshops in Invercargill and looked at some of the challenges faced by farms under restriction. Southland farmers were keen on encouraging people across the country to get engaged with the outbreak response to maximise efforts for eradication.
In May, the Government announced a 10-year plan to eradicate the cattle disease, which has no cure. About 150,000 cows will be slaughtered at a cost of about $886m to government and farming industry bodies.