Foot-and-mouth agreement a ‘decade in the making’ - DairyNZ

New Zealand has never had an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Photo / DairyNZ

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A foot-and-mouth operational agreement, announced at Fieldays last month, has been “a decade in the making”, says DairyNZ’s chief executive, Campbell Parker.

Leaders from across the livestock sector joined with the Government to sign an agreement on how to prepare and respond to the unlikely event of a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ, Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, Deer Industry New Zealand, NZPork, and the Meat Industry Association of New Zealand signed the operational agreement alongside the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) at Fieldays.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral infection that only infects cloven-hooved animals.

An analysis by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research found that an outbreak could cost New Zealand $14.3 billion in lost export revenue yearly.

New Zealand has never had an outbreak.

Parker said that while there are natural advantages here when compared to closely grouped European countries, that didn’t mean we should rest on our laurels.

“We are fortunate to have a border, in terms of being an island nation at the bottom of the world, but there are instances; Germany had an outbreak last year for the first time in 35 years,” he told The Country’s Jamie Mackay.

“So, it’s still a risk, and the impact on New Zealand would be significant.”

Parker, who is the inaugural chair of the FMD Council, said it was important to have a “clear playbook” on how to respond to the disease.

Meanwhile, DairyNZ’s latest wintering survey results showed an improvement.

“We have come a long way, and hats off to the farmers for all your effort,” Parker said.

“In the ... latest survey, 86% have implemented what we would call good farming practices for wintering cows over the last period.”

Parker said it was at 74% in 2023.

“So it keeps going up.”

Listen below:

Winter was a challenging time for Kiwi dairy farmers, as animals graze outside, but Parker said there were now many tools to help them tackle the season.

He said DairyNZ was there to help those farmers who struggled with wintering, addressing any issues that may occur swiftly.

“I think that’s been a big move forward, and we’ve just got to keep vigilant around it because there’s a lot of really good work being done by the majority of farmers.”

Overall, he was pleased with the survey results and praised farmers for the progress they’d made so far.

“Good on farmers for being a lot more proactive about wintering practices.”

Also in today’s interview: Parker commented on DairyNZ’s well-attended Farmers’ Forums for 2025, where the theme was innovate, integrate and collaborate.