M bovis programme director Geoff Gwyn said it will give farmers as much certainty as possible heading into winter.
“Well, what sort of certainty is that,” Mid Canterbury dairy farmer Frank Peters said.
“We have been led to believe, and I have always thought, it’s been ramped up all the time.
“It’s a bit disappointing to hear that when they have been telling us they have been onto it like a rat up a drainpipe.
“We have been hearing everything is fine and dandy and all under control and suddenly they are looking at a multitude of more farms.
“My view is I got a lot of confidence then they came out with this – yet another spanner in the works.
“I’ve certainly lost confidence in the last two weeks.”
Peters’ farm is confirmed as clear of M bovis. It was depopulated and restocked ready to roll back into full action on June 1.
“We’ve got 1400 cows to start the new season on June 1.
“I’m over bovis – I don’t want a bar of it any more,” he said.
“At some point you have to decide if you want to be a farmer. I’ve made the decision I want to get on and farm again and that’s the focus now.
“I don’t need the grief. We just want to get on and do what we do best – farming.”
Peters said he’ll be forever willing to help other M bovis affected farmers where he can.
“I have helped MPI as much as I can and I’m not getting nearly enough back. I’m over that now.”
With autumn calving all but finished Peters is pretty happy with how things are tracking.
“The spring herd we couldn’t get like for like replacements and production is down a bit so we’ll have to work on that down the track.
“We’re still chasing a bit of money (compensation) and meantime our one focus is farming and getting back to where we were before the bovis nightmare.”
Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury dairy chairman Chris Ford is at the heart of M bovis with his province harbouring 42% (67) of the 161 currently Confirmed Properties.
He said Mid Canterbury farmers were blind-sided in learning there’ll be a surge in the number of properties going under movement restriction.
“This has come totally out of the blue and farmers are rightly very concerned.
“This is escalating the stress and anxiety already rampant at the grassroots levels here,” Ford said.
“I honestly don’t think MPI is ready for the ramifications of what could occur.”
Over the coming six weeks MPI plans to contact 300 farmers identified with high-risk animals with 250 of them expected to go under notice of direction movement controls.
A further 800 properties will be contacted about very low-risk animal movements.
“Over the next six weeks. Farmers need to know in the next six days,” Ford said.
“Farmers have grown and contracted to winter crops. This doesn’t happen in the farm plan in six weeks and this will impact on graziers too.
“Will a grazier take animals from a farm under active surveillance?”
He questioned just how much MPI really understands of the dairy farming model it is trying to control.
Ford said farmers just want the response handled smartly and in consultation with farmers.
“We need co-operation not brutal enforcement.”
He acknowledged there have been improvements but there are still many shortfalls.
“I’m hearing horror stories every week of MPI having no compassion and we as fellow farmers are the listening ear and crying shoulder. It’s very hard not to be emotional.”
Ford said MPI is behind the eight-ball with its timing as animals are already on the winter move.
“How can they wake up one morning and put this out and believe it will help give certainty when hundreds of thousands of cows are already moving.
“The big question for MPI and its response partners DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb NZ is how much pressure do you expect our grassroots people to take?
“The mistakes need to stop. We are hearing horror stories every week.
“Too many farmers are hurting,” Ford said.
