While it’s expected fewer calves will be reared this season, industry leaders say calf rearing must happen but with vigilance.
“It’s going to be risky business but you are always going to have risks in business, some will be greater than others but it’s about assessing the risk and doing all you can to minimise risk,” Federated Farmers national dairy chairman Chris Lewis said.
There will be significant flow-on effects for the dairy-beef industry if calf rearing is knocked on the head because of M bovis.
“I know there are people not going to do it. There are people thinking about not doing it and there are those of us who are assessing the risk, planning accordingly and going to do it – business as usual.
“I expect there will be a supply-demand issue down the track and the flow on from the decisions farmers make now will likely cause a blip in 18 months to two years’ time.
“Where’s the next steak coming from if we don’t.”
Lewis said it could well be the start of a new way of calf rearing but farming business has to carry on.
“We still want life to carry on. We want people to be prosperous. We can’t have millions of dollars invested in farmland and farm fresh air.”
There is naturally more caution in the hardest hit M bovis regions where more of the risk assessment will fall back on farmer-to-farmer trust, he said.
Canterbury dairy farm adviser Jeremy Savage is aware of people seriously considering not rearing calves this season.
“That’s of concern if we want to keep calves alive in the long-term proposition.
“It will create unhealthy prices in the market down the track when demand for yearlings and finishing stock outstrip supply.
“If stock agents get more proactive in coming months it might give dairy farmers confidence to get back on track,” Savage said.
He advised farmers to buy from as few sources as possible by contracting direct with farmers rather than buying through the yards.
“We know there are have been hot spots from trading calves through the yards.”
Buyers should always ask about cow and health history on the farm going back at least two seasons, question NAIT records and ask about any M bovis test results are available for the farm.
Feeding infected milk is the second highest risk of spreading M bovis and another significant concern around calf rearing, Savage said.
“Trading discard milk and even raw milk is an unnecessary risk.”
Savage suggested ordering milk powder now to avoid problems with supply.
Pasteurisation will kill M bovis if the machine is working correctly and procedures are correctly followed but there is a considerable financial outlay for the machine.
Acidifying milk with citric acid is an option and works best when citric acid is added to fresh milk.
Keeping up-to-date and correct Nait records will be critical this calf-rearing season, Biosecurity NZ operations chief Roger Smith said.
“We are still getting shoddy Nait compliance. You would think 11 months in that we would have stood up as a community and have this sorted.”
Smith is forever hopeful of 100% compliance as MPI and Nait increase their focus on compliance with NAIT requirements.
