Drought-hit Hawke's Bay farmers battling fresh outbreak of bovine tuberculosis

There’s been a fresh outbreak of the disease and some farmers believe authorities haven’t acted quick enough.

Over 500 farms in dry stricken Hawke's Bay are now facing a battle with restrictions caused by bovine tuberculosis (TB). 

For Lloyd Holloway, his prized cattle will stay put this winter after a positive test for the disease.

“We will just get overloaded with too much stock,” he says. 

Mr Holloway has had to cull the infected animals, but he can't sell others until the herd's tested again in six months.

“We will end up with another four to five hundred extra so a fifty per cent rise and if I could run 50 per cent more I’d be running it already.”

Since April last year, several Hawke's Bay herds have contracted bovine TB.

Joint industry and government group OSPRI is in charge of eradicating the disease and says possums in the high-country carrying tuberculosis have breached a poison-controlled buffer zone, infecting nine farms.

As a precaution, movement restrictions have been put on another 572 adjacent farms.

OSPRI Chief Executive Stephen Stuart says the large restriction area is a precautionary measure.

“It’s not something we do lightly. The real test is we need to contain this disease and eradicate this disease and not risk it being exported to other areas that are TB free.”

All cattle aged three months and older needs to have a clear TB test at least 60 days before they are moved, but Lloyd Holloway says that’s yet another issue to worry about in trying times.

“Some are starting to run out of water, they’ve got a four week wait to get the cattle tested then if everything goes to plan you can shift them but if you get a suspect you are looking at another two or three weeks,” he says.

1 NEWS has spoken to other farmers in the infected area who don't have TB who say they've have been told by their stock agents they'll have to reduce the price of their herds due to the stigma of the disease.

OSPRI's been holding information sessions, but some are saying the critical pest control measures weren't fast enough.

Local farmer Nick Dawson says OSPRI have been accepting to the criticism.

“There was a lot of monitoring when they should have been killing and they’ve taken that on board, and I think they will use this model in future throughout New Zealand.”

Stephen Stuart says the terrain of the farms infected makes pest control tough to manage. 

“We are down to the last 24 farms, which was once 1700 farms. These are 24 of the hardest farms in the most gnarly areas to protect and control.”

Farmers say they are already struggling with drought just want an end to the restrictions and testing over the next few weeks will determine how long they stay in place. 

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