FarmIQ records reduce M.bovis cull

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A South Island farming business managed to get a huge reduction in the number of stock culled for M. bovis eradication by showing detailed stock records.

It’s the kind of recording that could be essential for the Government’s eradication programme to succeed.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) placed a Restricted Place Notice on two properties owned by Lone Star Farms in mid January because they had infected calves. “We brought in about 400 calves for rearing and 200 of them came from a Southland property that was later found to have M. bovis,” explains Lone Star General Manager Boyd Macdonald. Lone Star was one of the first non-dairying businesses to be identified with the disease.

The calves were reared on one block of Caberfeidh, Lone Star’s 5300ha farm in the Hakataramea Valley, and then just a week before the disease discovery half of them were sent to another farm, 1,950 ha The Wandle in Middlemarch. Both are large farms involved in breeding and trading, and they winter about 45,000 stock units between them.

Using records in FarmIQ going back about 18 months, Lone Star was able to show exactly where the calves were at any time. “Staff record any movement using the FarmIQ app on their phone,” Boyd explains. "Tim in our office was able to take the records and produce a report, with help from the FarmIQ Support desk. It meant we could prove where the calves have been and what animals have been in close proximity.” 

This has been very helpful for Lone Star in three ways – it helped with explaining the situation to near neighbours, resulted in MPI agreeing to a significant reduction in the areas placed under restrictions and meant far fewer animals were culled by MPI.

 

It could have been a lot worse...

“We know 100 percent where the calves have been and what other stock had been around them,” agrees Caberfeidh farm manager Matt Smith. “How many farmers can say that? The FarmIQ records could tell us and then it is possible to see what risks are associated with them.”

The MPI case manager and a vet checked the Lone Star stock records in FarmIQ and as a result in mid February they allowed the area on Caberfeidh that is covered by the notice to be reduced to a third of the farm and later the area on the Wandle was reduced to just eight paddocks totaling 50ha.

This had a big effect in lessening the time and mental stress being experienced by the farm staff, says Matt. 

When MPI undertook the cull on 27 April, 1400 animals (equating to about 6,000 stock units) were taken, including some breeding cows. “But it could have been a lot worse,” says Boyd.

 

A real wake up call...

Boyd says measures such as double-fencing along boundaries, researching the source of stock and quarantining them when they arrive are quickly becoming standard practice.

And he expects that keeping good farm records will be too: “Farm records will be essential for the Government to be able to effectively eradicate M. bovis. With MPI managing a cull over a period of time, farmers are going to have to be able to prove they’re containing stock within a certain area. As an example, they have got to ensure there’s not cross-contamination within their own farm.”