Biosecurity

Unwanted plants, pests and diseases provide all kinds of challenges for a livestock-based industry such as dairying.

Biosecurity is a major issue for New Zealand agriculture as a whole and incursions of new undesirable species are becoming increasingly common.

Between 1990 and 2003 Biosecurity New Zealand (a division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) detected 212 separate incursions, an average of 15 per year, with the rate of detections increasing.

It has been estimated that between 2005 and 2017 a total of 500 new insects and diseases will become established under the present  technology and approach to biosecurity management, and a further 900-5000 of the 25,000 already introduced plants will go on to become weeds in agriculture or the natural environment.

The cost of these biosecurity breaches to the country and the industry are be significant.

Examples include:

• The New Zealand Treasury3 estimates the cumulative loss in national earnings (GDP) from a foot and mouth disease (FMD) incursion to the New Zealand economy at $6 billion after one year and $10 billion after two years
• Zoonoses such as leptospirosis and campylobacteriosis present significant costs to human health – the meat and dairy sectors account for more than 90% of human leptospirosis cases in NZ
• The New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) estimates that the varroa mite which infects bees will cost the pastoral sector between $230 million and $400 million because of the need for additional nitrogen application and clover reseeding
• Clover root weevil is estimated to cost between $150 and $500 million to the pastoral sector.

Biosecurity refers to the systems and practices that protect an industry from harmful pests, diseases and weeds. For investment purposes, biosecurity is understood to relate to those pests and diseases that require collective action by the industry, and in some cases the country as a whole.

The New Zealand dairy industry has a heritage of successful action to manage exotic diseases. Both brucellosis and latterly Enzootic Bovine Leukosis (EBL) have been effectively removed from the national dairy herd, and significant progress has been made under the National Pest Management Strategy (NPMS) toward bovine Tb control.

DairyNZ's single largest investment is its contribution to the National Pest Management Strategy (NPMS) of $15 million each year. Led by the Animal Health Board, the NPMS aims to eradicate tuberculosis (Tb) from New Zealand in order to safeguard overseas markets for beef, dairy and venison products. >>More

New Zealand has now enjoyed 10 consecutive years of reduced Tb prevalence and is ahead of its NPMS targets. As of June 2004, prevalence stood at 0.77 per cent, compared to a forecast of 1.15 per cent.

The presence of Enzootic Bovine Leucosis (EBL) represents a risk similar to that of Tb in some markets – and this is particularly true for Europe and Australia, which represent about 40 per cent of Fonterra’s revenues. To be declared EBL-free, the World Organisation for Animal Health requires 99.8 per cent of herds to be free of EBL for two years or more.

DairyNZ has been a key investor in the progressive eradication of, and testing for, EBL within the New Zealand herd.