BovineTB scheme strapped for money

Animal health workers battling bovine tuberculosis say eradication of TB in livestock will take two years longer and cost farmers more because of Government reluctance to provide more cash.

The Animal Health Board seems likely to get $9 million a year less than it wants, which will stretch the eradication programme from 10 years to 12.

The board last year asked Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton for a big boost in funding. It was told that although the Government accepted more money was needed, it questioned how much that should be and how fast the board should proceed.

Mr Sutton said a 12 or 15-year strategy might be better and directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Treasury officials to help the board revise the proposal.

Under the existing strategy, which expires on July 1, the budget for bovine TB vector control was $38.4 million, of which the Crown gave $20.3 million. The rest came from farmers and regional authorities. A further $17.7 million a year was spent on bovine TB disease control, paid for by farmers.

The board had proposed that total funding be increased to $85 million a year, with the Crown contributing $39.7 million.

Now, under "Plan B," it will still ask cattle and deer farmers to dig deeper to help pay for an expanded national strategy with an average annual cost in each of its first three years of $78.5 million.

The board is now asking the Government to contribute about $30 million a year, with a further $26 million annually to come from the beef sector, $14.3 million from the dairy sector, $2.2 million from the deer farming industry and $6.1 million to be raised in regions.

The board has proposed a new National Pest Management Strategy for bovine TB, aimed at achieving a national herd infection rate of less than 0.2 per cent by 2013.

The current herd infection rate is 0.8 per cent - representing 571 infected herds.

For cattle farmers, this would mean a $14 a head levy on the slaughter of all adult cattle from July 1, up from $7.20.

Last year the board had proposed a $13 levy.

Alan Pollock, the board's acting chairman, said expanded TB control was essential.

"Most of our major trading partners and competitors are at or below the international standard for official freedom from bovine TB, which is no more than 0.2 per cent of herds infected.

"As long as we are above that level, we face the risk of serious trade barriers on TB grounds."

The proposed funding increase would mainly expand the of killing of possum and ferret populations infecting cattle and deer.

Mr Pollock said the Government had not accepted a proposal for a strategy aimed at achieving TB freedom within 10 years, or for a lift in the Government contribution from 50 per cent to 60 per cent.

"It has been made clear to us that although we can expect a significant increase in Government funding, it won't be to the level we proposed last year," he said.

This was the reason the latest proposal would take an extra two years to reach the objective of TB freedom, and would cost the industry more than originally proposed.

"Despite the extra cost to industry, our assessment is the cost is outweighed by the benefits of protecting market access," he said.

Herd testing and movement control policies had also been modified from the original board proposal to take into account farmers' concerns over the board's earlier proposal to expand the areas where pre-movement testing and annual testing of cattle and deer herds would be required.

The new proposal put tighter controls on infected and C1 status herds, but otherwise testing and movement control policies would be much the same as those now in place.

Mr Pollock said he expected the new TB strategy proposal to be notified by Mr Sutton early next month, and farmers would be able to make submissions to the minister.

- NZPA