The implications for the Canterbury beef industry from the rediscovery of M.Bovis at the Wakanui feedlot will stretch far beyond the borders of the At Risk zones and affect beef supply nationally

It was only a few of months ago that MPI and the farming sector were getting close to congratulating themselves on being the first country to rid itself of the scourge of M. bovis. The news this week of M. Bovis being found at the Five Star feedlot near Ashburton has put paid to that aspiration for the meantime.

The disease has persisted in popping up in the Mid-Canterbury region since June, with the feedlot being the sole ‘farm’ still knowingly active. 

However, the news it has got further into the feedlot indicates that the beef industry is where the latest outbreak is centred although there is still indications that the dairy sector has the disease as a case was picked up through routine milk testing and as of September 9th and a further 61 farms were requiring more investigation.

At the moment the feedlot with approximately 11,000 cattle on board is to be cleared of livestock plus an additional 8 nearby farms and a further 6 that are undergoing testing. The culling is due to start next month, when completed this will lift the total number of cattle to be culled to approaching 200,000; currently it is at 176,000.

Apart from the feedlot and the 8 farms (to date) that require ‘cleaning out’ for whom the news will be devastating, the cleaning out of the feedlot is going to impact upon those farmers who supply stock and downstream on the supply of cattle to the local meat processing works. Initially the slaughter of those cattle to be culled will provide a ready source of livestock to the ANZCO meat works but there is likely to be quite a pause in the finishing programme until a spread of age and weights are again flowing through the feedlot. This is also likely to test the loyalty of the Five Star ANZCO customers as there will be several months when product is likely to be available and they will no doubt be looking elsewhere for supply.

What this setback does to the future of the eradication of the disease is uncertain, but it must undermine the confidence of those involved and the cattle industry itself.

Having seemingly come so close to believing the disease was all but gone to over a couple of weeks being at the stage when potentially another 20,000 cattle may need to be culled, might mean a rethink is required.

At the moment the fact that the disease seems to be contained within the Mid-Canterbury region (and we can only hope that is the case) is the only redeeming feature of this latest outbreak. There have been no known cases outside the region since mid-2020.

Looking at a paper which discusses the links of M. bovis from feedlot calves with pneumonia and polyarthritis in Buenos Aires province, Argentina is a poignant reminder of the potential severity of the disease and it should be too soon to give up on eradication yet.

Springtime, with the Bulk Tank Test programme operating in a new season was always going to be when there was a likelihood that if any M. bovis was lurking it would show up. However, the scale within the beef industry is a surprise, hopefully the dairy industry will be spared from the worst this time around.

The timing of the feedlot closure has come at a time when the impact upon those farms supplying it with unfinished cattle will create less complications than perhaps any other time of year as at least grass growth in most regions is good and it should allow farmers to readjust stocking rates before feed pinch periods arrive.

However, with Five Star out of the market for some time it is likely to reduce demand for cattle and lower returns for those selling stock.

There has been some criticism of the approach that MPI have been using currently with the ‘system’ letting farms with low thresholds of M. bovis within the herd allowed to continue operating without culling, potentially leaving a risk for further infections.  Back in May the government confirmed that another $68 million was available to be spent over the current financial year in combating the disease. All cattle that are currently identified to be culled are meant to be gone by mid-January with a further period to ‘clean’ effected properties after that.

The map below shows the feedlot and ‘affected’ areas.

Source: MPI M.bovis site.

Red is the High Risk Zone, yellow is the At Risk Zone.