NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Companies / Agribusiness

Farmer fears M.bovis back on property despite culling of 1700 cattle

RNZ
5 Jan, 2020 09:23 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Ben Walling is waiting for the test results of his replacement cattle after enduring the ordeal of seeing 1700 cattle culled in 2018 due to M.bovis. Photo / RNZ (Dan Cook)

Ben Walling is waiting for the test results of his replacement cattle after enduring the ordeal of seeing 1700 cattle culled in 2018 due to M.bovis. Photo / RNZ (Dan Cook)

By RNZ

A Southland farmer is concerned the Mycoplasma bovis disease could be back on his farm, 18 months after his previous cattle herd had to be culled.

The disease can cause mastitis, pneumonia, arthritis, and late-term abortions.

Ben Walling and Sarah Flintoft had 1700 cattle culled after M.bovis was discovered on their farm which was later declared disease-free.

READ MORE:
• MPI advisory group confident M.bovis can be eradicated
• Mycoplasma bovis: North Otago farmers feel branded 'unclean'
• Mycoplasma bovis costs $203m to date - excluding farmer compensation
• M.bovis cattle kill as expected but getting there a shambles: Feds

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Afterwards, they told RNZ they hoped they would never have to go through such an ordeal again.

But now the Ministry of Primary Industries is back on their farm, and hundreds of cattle are having to be blood tested for the disease.

Walling said some of the animals under suspicion are replacements for the cattle which had to be culled originally. They are Friesian bulls born in 2016 and bought last year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We ended up with a lot of feed left over that we needed to be eaten ... rather than putting a claim in for the feed and ploughing it under and wasting it we went out and bought bulls and restocked ourselves and [they] ate the leftover feed on that property," he told Summer Report.

He said $300,000 worth of feed would have had to be ploughed under if the couple had not re-stocked.

"These animals turned out to have trace animals in them from another infected property that has recently been found."

Trace animals are those which have had some contact somewhere along the line with an infected animal.

Two hundred and fifty cattle have had their blood tested and the final results are due in the next few weeks.

He was hopeful the results would come back clear.

"If the blood testing is more than 3 percent antibody infections we will immediately go into an infected property."

Almost two dozen properties under quarantine

As of late December, there were 23 active properties with M.bovis - all of which are under quarantine.

A lot of resources have gone into animal tracking since the outbreak - and the system that does the tracking work, the National Animal Identification and Tracing programme, or NAIT.

Legislation rushed through in 2018 strengthened the Ministry of Primary Industry's search powers under NAIT, requiring all animal movements to be registered within the system and ensured farmers who flouted the rules would be held to account.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This came as the government decided to attempt to eradicate the disease, rather than adopt farming practices that could live with it.

Ben Walling is concerned farmers are not complying with the National Animal Identification and Tracing programme. Photo / RNZ (Dan Cook)
Ben Walling is concerned farmers are not complying with the National Animal Identification and Tracing programme. Photo / RNZ (Dan Cook)

Walling said, in his experience, many farmers are not properly registering their animal movements.

MPI doing as much as it can - director of response

MPI's director of response Geoff Gwynne told Summer Report he sympathised with the couple but MPI had been involved with over 1400 properties and there were fewer that 20 farms that had to be revisited.

He's running 2700 bulls bought and traded over the last couple of years and NAIT was coming back to him on a weekly basis about cattle having the incorrect number or cattle that should be in their name listed with another farmer because of incorrect transfers.

He agreed that NAIT was "not as good as it could be", however, it was being improved by a variety of people.

The database was owned by not-for-profit OSPREY, that consisted of farming organisations such as Beef + Lamb and Dairy NZ. "So it's a farmer problem being resolved by farmer organisations."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said farmers on the ground could drive compliance by not accepting animals on their property they had any concerns about or not buying cattle that were not NAIT-compliant.

He was confident MPI was doing as much as it could to enforce the NAIT regulations.

It had carried out 2400 on-farm checks in the last 12 months, issued 200 notices of direction and 691 infringements. It had taken one prosecution and he anticipated there would be more especially as a result of a targeted campaign due to get underway this month.

- RNZ

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Agribusiness

Premium
KiwiSaver

'Opening a can of worms': Govt considers allowing KiwiSaver withdrawals for farms

10 Jun 05:00 PM
Agribusiness

ASB offers $150,000 interest-free loans for farm solar systems

09 Jun 11:51 PM
Premium
Agribusiness

$15b boost to NZ economy: Fonterra sets milk price forecast and earnings

28 May 09:15 PM

Why Cambridge is the new home of future-focused design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Agribusiness

Premium
'Opening a can of worms': Govt considers allowing KiwiSaver withdrawals for farms

'Opening a can of worms': Govt considers allowing KiwiSaver withdrawals for farms

10 Jun 05:00 PM

Finance Minister Nicola Willis is seeking advice from Inland Revenue.

ASB offers $150,000 interest-free loans for farm solar systems

ASB offers $150,000 interest-free loans for farm solar systems

09 Jun 11:51 PM
Premium
$15b boost to NZ economy: Fonterra sets milk price forecast and earnings

$15b boost to NZ economy: Fonterra sets milk price forecast and earnings

28 May 09:15 PM
Premium
A2 Milk silent on A$350m acquisition talk

A2 Milk silent on A$350m acquisition talk

27 May 12:37 AM
Clean water fuelling Pacific futures
sponsored

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP