According to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and OSPRI New Zealand, spring bulk tank milk testing across the country has detected no signs of M. bovis.
This marked a significant milestone in the decade long, NZ$870m (U$671.3m) collaboration between the government and industry partners DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
The last known transmission of the disease occurred on 7 September 2023 and the programme remains on track to achieve eradication by June 2028.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand Chair Kate Acland said that these efforts have protected the sector from the productivity losses and animal welfare impacts of the disease.
If M. bovis had become endemic, it would have cost New Zealand’s primary sector NZ$1.3bn (U$745.8m) in lost production over the first decade and continued to impact farmers beyond that.
The final stretch
The programme has entered the ‘confidence of absence’ phase, which involves continued testing over the next few years to gather sufficient data to confirm the disease is no longer present in the national herd.
“These last two spring seasons (2024-25) of zero infections were important because this testing includes the newborn heifers from the year before, entering the milking herd for the first time. In many cases, this will be the first time these animals have been tested for M. bovis through the bulk milk tank testing process,” said OSPRI’s CEO Sam McIvor.
“Staying the course for the next period of surveillance will enable young cattle to become adults and be captured in the results… At that point, we’d be confident to declare freedom from the disease which will be a world-first eradication.”
Once achieved, New Zealand will be the first country to successfully eradicate M. bovis.
“Without the collective effort of dairy and beef farmers, as well as the wider sector stakeholders, we wouldn’t be where we are today - with a stronger and more resilient biosecurity system,” said DairyNZ Chair Tracy Brown.
With lower risk of the disease, McIvor said that OSPRI will no longer routinely use movement controls while investigating bulk tank milk detect results.
While the eradication programme has made significant progress, vigilance remains crucial.
“We need to maintain our focus for a little longer. One important way farmers can support this work is by keeping their NAIT records up to date. This is essential for preventing the spread of disease and supporting effective disease management,” said Beef + Lamb New Zealand Chair Kate Acland.
Farmers remain key to the programme’s success as New Zealand enters the final phase.
Brown encouraged farmers to continue supporting this important programme, including allowing on-farm testing when needed.
Record cow productivity
This followed the news of record dairy productivity as reported in the New Zealand Dairy Statistics 2024/25 released by DairyNZ and Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC).
According to the data, total milksolids production rose 2.9 per cent to 1.94 billion kilograms, even as cow numbers fell 0.5% per cent to 4.68 million.
The lift was driven by record-high productivity per cow, with the average cow producing 414 kilograms of milksolids, which is up 14kg from last season.
