Federated Farmers: Pooling resources for biosecurity

Keep your cows TB Free

OSPRI New Zealand is the organisation that manages the TBfree New Zealand and NAIT programmes that are of vital importance to all New Zealand's farming businesses.

In forming OSPRI, the primary sector has brought together, under one roof, TBfree (the body that implements the National Pest Management Plan for the control of bovine tuberculosis) and NAIT -- the National Animal Identification and Tracing scheme that links people, property and NAIT livestock -- currently cattle and deer.

OSPRI was established July 2013. Its current shareholders are three, farmer levy-funded industry good organisations -- Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd, DairyNZ (Inc) and Deer Industry New Zealand.

In addition, the 11-person OSPRI Stakeholders Council -- with representatives currently from the three levy organisations, the Crown, the wider pastoral sector and local government - plays an important role in advising the OSPRI board in a number of areas.

The Federation is represented on the Stakeholders Council by two National Board members; Anders Crofoot (the Federation's vice-president, who is also the stakeholders council chairperson) and Katie Milne.

OSPRI was set up to provide more value to New Zealand - and particularly to its funders and stakeholders - than would be possible by maintaining the TBfree and NAIT programmes as independent, stand-alone entities.

It was designed to do this by both making savings in common areas (such as the sharing of call centre facilities and administration functions) and, of much more potential value, by leveraging information used by the TBfree and NAIT programmes to enhance current and future organisational operational capability.

The avowed aim of OSPRI New Zealand is to be "the organisation of choice delivering creative operational solutions for New Zealand's primary industries" and it has five strategic priorities it is focusing on to achieve this:

* Continuous improvement and delivery of core (currently TBfree and NAIT) programmes.

* Better service delivery for farmers.

* Organisational capability.

* Smart data use.

* Creative operational solutions.

The first year of OSPRI's existence has not been without its challenges as a new, single culture is forged from its two component business units and the organisation -- and the stakeholders who, collectively have input into its direction -- moved from a concept to a reality.

While it is a truism that, in the business world, the benefits of mergers are often not realised to the satisfaction of shareholders and stakeholders, the Federation believes this will not be the case with OSPRI.

In the short-term, the Federation is confident the necessary focus on the core TBfree and NAIT businesses will be maintained.

Significant activities that are underway or planned for include a scheduled review of the National (Bovine TB) Pest Management Plan and work to improve compliance around NAIT farm-to-farm animal movements.

Looking further ahead, it is likely the emerging organisational capabilities and capacities of OSPRI will have a significant role to play in other biosecurity-related areas and that these (and other appropriate) activities will see significant value delivered to farmers and to New Zealand.