Livestock producers around the world know only too well how a disease outbreak in their herds can lead to heartbreak and financial loss they might not recover from. I have observed the livestock industry close up in numerous countries in my career as a journalist, and have seen foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and then bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) wreak havoc on the livestock sectors in the United Kingdom (UK), in Europe and in Canada and the U.S.
While working for Farmers Weekly magazine in London, I witnessed FMD’s march through the UK’s cattle, sheep and hog population. I don’t remember how many animals had to be slaughtered to halt the disease’s spread. But I will never forget the sight of huge pyres of dead cattle being incinerated for disposal on the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England.
I also had the dubious privilege of reporting on the UK’s first BSE case just before I left to come to the U.S. BSE then spread to most countries in Europe and the devastating impact on livestock farming and all of agriculture was immense. Little did I know that in May 2003, I would be reporting on another BSE case, this one in Canada. Or that in December that year, I would be writing about the first case in the U.S.
This case was one of the most traumatic events in the history of the U.S. beef industry and cost the industry more than $16 billion, mostly in lost exports. It took years for the U.S. to persuade key markets like Japan and South Korea to reopen their markets to U.S. beef. Today’s booming beef exports reveal just how crucial it is that the industry does not have another trade-threatening disease outbreak.
I grew up on a dairy and beef farm in New Zealand and watched my dad over many years improve his herds through genetic selection and other means. He didn’t just take pride in his cows; he loved them almost as much as us kids. So, it was with a heavy heart that I learned a week ago that New Zealand plans to cull as many as 150,000 dairy and beef cows in the first attempt by any country to try and eradicate the cow disease Mycoplasma bovis.
The cull will be the largest mass animal slaughter in the country’s history and will cost an estimated NZ$886 million ($620 million) over 10 years. The move is an attempt to save the national dairy herd and protect the long-term productivity of the farming sector, which is New Zealand’s second biggest export earner. New Zealand is the world’s largest exporter of dairy products, producing 3 percent of the world’s milk. It has 6.6 million dairy cows and 3.4 million beef cows.
This is a tough call as no one ever wants to see mass culls, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. But the alternative is to risk the spread of the disease across New Zealand’s national herd. The country has a real chance of eradication to protect its more than 20,000 dairy and beef farms but only if it acts now. Total eradication of the disease was possible as it was not yet widespread and had presented in only one strain, says Ardern.
Officials say they plan to kill all cows on any farms where the disease is found. Many of the cows will be slaughtered at processing plants and used for beef but some cows will have to be killed and buried on the farms or dumped in approved landfills, say officials. The disease is classified as “active” on 37 farms and computer modeling suggests this number will increase to at least 142 farms.
Mycoplasma bovis, a bacteria, was first detected in New Zealand in July last year and manifests in mastitis in cows, severe pneumonia, ear infections and other symptoms. Despite initially being contained to farms in the South Island, the disease continued to spread and reached the North Island earlier this year. Since it was first discovered, 26,000 cows have been culled. Of the total cost, NZ$16 million is loss of production and is borne by farmers and NZ$870 million is the cost of the response (including compensation to farmers).
The government expects to do most of the eradication work in one to two years. Government will meet 68 percent of this cost and producer groups DairyNZ and Beef+Lamb New Zealand will meet the other 32 percent. Government forecasts estimate if the disease was allowed to spread unchecked, it would cost the industry NZ$1.3 billion in lost production in 10 years.
Stories have already emerged of dairy farmers having to cull 1,000-head cow herds because just one cow tested positive for the bacteria. How heartbreaking that must have been. — Steve Kay
