The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • 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

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 / The Country

Farmer affected by M. bovis backs eradication

Otago Daily Times
28 May, 2018 09:11 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

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

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 and Sarah Flintoft, who have been caught up in the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak, on their Five Rivers farm with Friesian-cross bulls which are not infected with the disease. Photo / Gerard O'Brien

Ben Walling and Sarah Flintoft, who have been caught up in the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak, on their Five Rivers farm with Friesian-cross bulls which are not infected with the disease. Photo / Gerard O'Brien

Ben Walling knows all about the effects of Mycoplasma bovis on livestock and people — and he believes phased eradication of the disease is the best bet.

Long-term management might have made ''life a bit easier'' in the short term but the Northern Southland farmer and contractor believed it would mean ''millions'' of animals would die over the long term.

But to ensure eradication was successful, farmers had to help, otherwise the Ministry for Primary Industries did not have a hope of success, he said.

Mr Walling received calves from Southern Centre Dairies, the Southland dairy operation which is believed to be the first farm infected.

When the calves turned up at his property, some were so sick they had to be carried off the truck and nine were dead by the next day, he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Once Mycoplasma bovis was confirmed, he and partner Sarah Flintoft ''lost everything'' on the calf-rearing side of their business.

They had just over 1500 calves on the property. More than 400 either died or were shot, and the rest went to slaughter.

The disease was ''bloody awful'' — ''you feel guilty ... you feel stigmatised'' — although the way MPI handled it was ''slightly worse'', he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The people he was dealing with every day on the ground were excellent, but those further up the line did not have ''a ... clue about farming''.

Listen to The Country's interview with Ben Walling from March here.

People needed to remember the disease affected people as well as animals, and it was not until you were affected that you saw the worst side of it, he said.

''If they let it [the disease] go, and they [animals] start dying left, right and centre ... MPI will come in under a different hat. It will be animal welfare and they will slaughter herds under it,'' he said.

Discover more

Business

Farmer groups back move to eradicate cattle disease

28 May 04:15 AM
New Zealand

Mycoplasma bovis eradication plan unveiled

28 May 05:00 PM
Agribusiness

Cattle disease cull will hit like a drought: economist

28 May 09:01 AM
Opinion

Hosking: Govt's ballsy call to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis

28 May 06:28 PM

But North Otago farmer Kerry Dwyer believed the disease would ''beat'' MPI, saying it had so far, and the ministry had not been collaborating or co-operating with industry.

Mr Dwyer and his wife Rosie voluntarily sent 400 animals to slaughter after receiving a positive test, against the advice of MPI.

The couple, who felt they had no other choice, had been awaiting compensation for 20 weeks.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

'A hot bath and a cold meal': Rationing electricity on the farm

OpinionGlenn Dwight

From Formica to focaccia: The evolution of the Kiwi cafe

OpinionKem Ormond

How to grow and care for an avocado tree – Kem Ormond


Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

'A hot bath and a cold meal': Rationing electricity on the farm
The Country

'A hot bath and a cold meal': Rationing electricity on the farm

"We have had warnings that we must keep our power consumption down."

30 Aug 05:00 PM
From Formica to focaccia: The evolution of the Kiwi cafe
Glenn Dwight
OpinionGlenn Dwight

From Formica to focaccia: The evolution of the Kiwi cafe

30 Aug 05:00 PM
How to grow and care for an avocado tree – Kem Ormond
Kem Ormond
OpinionKem Ormond

How to grow and care for an avocado tree – Kem Ormond

30 Aug 05:00 PM


Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet
Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

10 Aug 09:12 PM
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
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • 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