Tb in Lindis: Ospri control of movement criticised

Otago Daily Times

22-07-2025

Possums are the main source of bovine Tb in New Zealand. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY
Upper Waitaki farmers say Ospri has "dropped the ball" on bovine tuberculosis control in the area and called a public meeting last week to seek answers after infected calves were sold at a calf sale in Omarama earlier this year.
Ospri — a partnership between primary industries and government — manages the TBfree national programme which aims to achieve Tb freedom in livestock by next year. Ospri representatives attended the meeting in Omarama on Friday.
Last week affected farmer Dave Ellis, who owns both dairy and beef properties in the Omarama area, including Tara Hills Station, said Ospri needed to be "dragged through the coals" for not putting the Lindis Pass into a movement control area to contain the disease.
In MCAs — areas where infected possums are known to exist or where it is important to monitor the possible spread of Tb in those populations — herds are tested every year and pre-movement testing is required before any animal can be moved off a property. Possums are the main source of bovine Tb in New Zealand.
In April, Mr Ellis bought calves at the Omarama calf sale and was later phoned by one of the vendors, from the Lindis Pass area, to say they had reactors to Tb.
Mr Ellis, who immediately contacted Ospri, said he did not initially realise how big the Tb issue was in the Lindis and it should have been an MCA.
No stock from properties next to farms with Tb-infected herds should be allowed to be put into sales untested, he said.
After the first test, Mr Ellis said two calves "festered up" and had significant lesions on them. From blood testing, 10 animals were elevated for further investigation. Those calves were killed and samples sent for testing which showed four of the 10 had Tb.
Mr Ellis and his wife Karen have been farming in the area for 20-odd years, and have owned Tara Hills for about 15. When they first took over, they had two years under movement control. Once that was cleared, "life was a lot easier", he said.
The current situation meant Omarama farmers might have to go back under movement control and that created a lot of extra work when large numbers of animals were involved. However, it also provided "peace of mind".
While not proud to have had animals identified with Tb, Mr Ellis said he had been very open about their situation and made sure neighbouring farmers knew about it.
He believed Ospri now needed to "chuck everything at it" to get on top of Tb in the area. He also questioned why farmers should have to pay, through their levies, for pest eradication on Department of Conservation-managed land.
When contacted, Doc confirmed it did not contribute funds to the TBfree programme. The programme is funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries and farming industries.
The government contributes 40% of the funding for the programme while the remaining 60% comes from the dairy, beef and deer farming industries which raise funding through the dairy milk solid levy, levies on all cattle slaughtered, levies on Deer Industry New Zealand meat and velvet and levies on live export of cattle and deer.
Mr Ellis said their remaining affected stock had been isolated in one mob, so were not impacting any other stock on their property, and any animal that tested positive with upcoming tests was likely to be killed.
That could be up to 150 animals, which were breeding stock, and he would be pushing for compensation if that happened, he said.
At the recent Hillbilly Hunt in Omarama, a fundraiser for the local rodeo club, Mr Ellis and two other local farmers provided a $600 cash prize for the highest tally of possums. The winning team shot 53 while the total number from all teams was 300. Twelve of those possums were kept for a post-mortem.
Scott Hunter, manager of neighbouring Berwen Station, was disappointed with Ospri, saying there had been "no communication with farmers".
"It's all been hush-hush and kept under wraps. They haven't approached it properly," he said.
Ospri had failed to look at the "big picture" and how many people were affected, not only in the Omarama area but also further afield. It was understood some calves from the sale were destined for the North Island.
There should have been a "big circle" around affected properties in the Lindis area and farmers now needed to know what Ospri was going to do with that area.
"They've dropped that ball. It's a real cluster ... what's happened. It messes with a lot of people's businesses," he said.
Responding to questions from the Otago Daily Times, Ospri general manager service delivery South Island Danny Templeman said a review of the movement control area would be undertaken.
As of Monday last week, the number of infected herds in the Otago region was six; there was one infected herd in Omarama and two in the Lindis.
Ospri had seen an upward trend of infected herds in Otago over the past 12 months and, because of that, there was an increased possum control programme being implemented.
"Significant" ground control was being completed in the Lindis and in other parts of Otago. The largest portion of the South Island vector control budget was spent in Otago, Mr Templeman said.
As Omarama was a large area, it was likely possum control would be implemented south of the Waitaki in coming years, he said.
Asked what control was being done on Doc land and who was responsible for that control, Ospri said it was responsible for the eradication of bovine Tb from its main vector — the possum — so where possum control was required for Tb purposes, Ospri would engage with the relevant landowners whether that was public or private land.
Asked whether the calves Mr Ellis bought should have been tested before the sale, given a neighbouring farm had Tb, Mr Templeman said infection was not identified beforehand in the herd the animals were moved from.
"All testing on the herd was compliant and the movement of the infected animals was no fault of the owner. The origin herd was not located in a Movement Control Area and, as such, animals were not required to be tested prior to moving to the sale," he said.
Calves at the sale had been traced using Nait and saleyard records and testing was either scheduled or completed, he said.
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