The Government has unveiled plans to knock out tuberculosis-infected possums in certain ‘hot spot’ parts of the country to protect herds in partnership with the beef, dairy and deer industries.
An independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for tuberculosis (TB) recommended that TB-infected possums must be cleared from a few areas of central North Island, Hawkes Bay and Otago before New Zealand’s livestock can be permanently protected from the disease.
Biosecurity Minister, Andrew Hoggard says the Government has accepted the review team’s proposals.
“Possums are the main way TB spreads to farmed cattle and deer, so the new management plan will focus on eradicating it from both possums and livestock by 2040,” said Minister Hoggard.
“We can’t get rid of bovine TB without getting rid of infected possums. If they remain, they will keep reinfecting our dairy, beef and deer herds.
“We’re very close to achieving zero infected herds with just 16 herds nationwide. That’s an amazing achievement after decades of hard work by farmers and continued investment. Now we need to finish the job.”
The Minister confirmed funding will remain at $60 million a year for the next five years, with farmers paying 60% and the Government 40%. To ensure sustainability of the programme after 2031, a review of progress against the plan and on-going term funding requirements has been agreed.
OSPRI, which administers the TBfree Plan, is making operational changes to support it, including switching from blanket TB testing to a more focused approach in surveillance areas.
“This will reduce compliance and costs for farmers, by using existing technology and data to focus testing where it’s most needed, to protect herds against further spread,” Mr Hoggard says.
“I’m pleased that the governance group that conducted the review of the current TB plan carried out a thorough consultation on their proposals for change, including public meetings and webinars.
“The new plan affects the whole dairy, beef and deer sectors, even if individual farmers have never personally faced TB on their farms.
“As long as TB is still present here, no matter how small the areas of infection, we are still farming with a big hurdle. The work we do now will make farming easier in the future.”
