Edition 320, Thursday 25 May 2023

In this issue

Mycoplasma bovis Statistics
Biosecurity Tips: Reducing the risk of M. bovis
Preparing for Moving Day

Biosecurity Tips: Reducing the risk of M. bovis

The greatest risk of infection is the introduction of cattle to your herd or contact between your cattle and cattle belonging to other owners. Feeding infected milk or colostrum to calves can also introduce infection to your herd.

When buying stock, always check the source of cattle and their health history, and follow these tips:

As much as possible, keep cattle introductions to a minimum.
If you introduce cattle, source directly from a single property where the cattle were born. The risk of M. bovis introduction is increased if the cattle have:
o been sourced from multiple properties, and/or
o been moved through multiple properties.
Keep your NAIT details up to date.
Check that your biosecurity plan is fit for purpose.

For more information, visit:

Pre-Purchase Checklist (Mycoplasma bovis) (mpi.govt.nz)
Biosecurity Planner – a resource developed with farmers, for farmers.

Preparing for Moving Day

Moving Day is a big day in the farming calendar and requires good planning and communication to ensure success.

Moving cattle has some biosecurity risks, so we recommend you have good biosecurity measures in place to enhance your protection against Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) and other pests and diseases.

Preparing stock for transport will ensure cattle arrive at their destination fit and healthy. DairyNZ's Checklist for transporting cows – for farmers and transporters is an excellent resource and covers:

transport planning
day of transport
are the animals good to go?
care of sick animals

Keep NAIT updated

Moving Day is the busiest time of the year for livestock movements. Being NAIT compliant is critical throughout this busy period – it helps maintain our traceability system and limit the risk of disease spread.

If you’re moving farm with your animals, you need to:

Tag and register all your animals and ensure your NAIT account reflects what is on the farm.
Complete an Animal Status Declaration (ASD) form.
Create a new NAIT location number for the farm you’re moving to and register all grazing blocks you’re in charge of.
Ensure third-party software suppliers/stock agents have this new number, and you have assigned them access to your NAIT account as information providers.
Record and confirm movements to new NAIT locations within 48 hours of the movement taking place.
Deregister old NAIT location numbers once there are no outstanding movements or animals left.

For more information and support:

Visit: Moving Day — moving animals or farm (ospri.co.nz)

Phone: OSPRI on 0800 48 24 63

Email: info@ospri.co.nz