Research shows impact of grass grubs alone cost dairy farms up to $380 million. Photo / File
Pests most commonly targeting New Zealand's pastures are costing the economy up to $2.3 billion a year, an AgResearch study has found.
The study is the first of its kind to estimate the financial impact of invertebrate pests such as the grass grub, black beetle, nematodes and weevils in terms
of lost productivity for pastoral farming.
The full science paper has been published this week in the New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research and can be found here
Of the total estimated annual losses of between $1.7 billion and $2.3 billion in 'average' years, up to $1.4b billion occurs on dairy farms, and up to $900 million on sheep and beef farms.
"Our research shows that the impact of the grass grub alone costs dairy farms up to $380 million, and sheep and beef farms up to $205 million, each year," says AgResearch scientist Colin Ferguson.
