Northland breeders head back to show

Farmer Karen Woolley, right, and assistant Sarah Thomas will be returning with her cattle to Whangārei A&P Show this year. Photo / John Stone

Te Hana's Karen and Bruce Woolley will be returning to Whangārei A and P Show with 20 of their best cattle after the organisation lifted its 2018 ban on the animals being shown at the event due to Mycoplasma bovis.

The Northland couple will be bringing their cattle north for the Whangārei show after organisers recently lifted a 2018 ban on cattle coming to the event after the disease's New Zealand presence was confirmed in 2017 for the first time.

The couple won the prestigious 2017 Whangārei A and P Show Meat and Wool Cup top prize at the event with one of their Salers beef bulls when showing cattle were last allowed at the event.

Karen said she was not concerned about the risk of getting Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) by taking their cattle to the Whangārei event.

The Woolleys travel around the North Island annually showing their cattle during New Zealand's six month A and P show season which begins in October and runs through to the following Easter. They show stud Salers beef and Jersey dairy cattle.

Farmer Karen Woolley with her cattle. Photo / John Stone

In 2017 the Woolleys went to 16 A and P shows, including Northland shows such as Kaikohe, Arapohue and Bay of Islands plus the North Island's Royal Show in Hastings Hawke's Bay and Royal Easter Show in Auckland.

In 2018 - as organisers at many shows around the country banned cattle due to M. bovis - they went to just four shows; Kaitaia (Far North), Paparoa (Lower Northland), Franklin at Pukekohe (South Auckland) and the Royal Show in Hastings.

The Woolleys are planning to go to eight A and P shows this coming season.
"We feel we are very safe," Karen said about returning to the Whangārei A and P show.

Karen said for a start, legislation meant farms under quarantine control for the presence of M. bovis weren't able to take stock off-farm, therefore animals from these properties could not be at the Whangārei or any other A and P show.

"We come on our own truck and trailer, bring our own food and water, tie cows up so they are looking at each other (so they are looking at members of their own herd rather than others from elsewhere - nose-to-nose contact is one of the major ways the disease is spread), we have our set of cups to milk our cows (on site) and our own buckets," Karen said.

The couple also use the New Zealand's National Animal Identification Tracking (NAIT) system to track livestock sale movements.

Karen said farmers taking their cattle to shows would all be taking care to keep their own stock safe from M. bovis, which in itself was also an advantage.

The Woolleys will be adding dairy stock to their cattle line-up at the 2019 Whangārei A and P for the first time with seven mixed-age Jersey cattle - after their show handlers showed interest in these as an option too.

Karen Woolley has been showing cattle for 50 years. She and her husband lead a six-person team that travels around the shows, now with beef and dairy cattle.

Woolley said it was important to take precautions when dealing with diseases like M. bovis but it was also important not to overreact.

It was simply a matter of systems being put in place to handle the disease's risk, then everybody needed to get on with what was to be done. She said she was fine with Whangārei A and P Society's beefed up biosecurity measures in the wake of M. bovis.

Strengthened systems and rules at the show - and others around the country - in the wake of M. bovis would now most likely be permanently in place.

She said the presence of M. bovis would not stop her going to any shows - the Royal Show in Christchurch or Ashburton show among them. Canterbury - including Ashburton - M. bovis zones are the centre of the disease and between them have 46 per cent of the 193 confirmed M. bovis cases in New Zealand (as at September 18, 2019).

Karen said she planned to go to the Royal Show in Christchurch in 2020 or 2021.
New Zealand A and P show organisers have all made their own decisions about whether to ban cattle from their events in the wake of M. bovis' discovery - such bans were not imposed by the Ministry for Primary Industries.