Hawke s Bay farmers not getting enough help with bovine TB
18 Feb, 2021 07:45 PM
3 minutes to read
By Sally Round and Hugo Cameron of RNZ.
A Northern Hawke s Bay farmer caught up in the response to a bovine tuberculosis outbreak in the area says they re not getting the support they need to stay afloat.
The animal health agency, OSPRI, works to control the spread of the disease, which is mainly transmitted by possums.
While OSPRI has been working to get the outbreak under control, more than 500 farms have had to spend the last 12 months operating under restricted livestock movement controls.
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Latest figures released from OSPRI this month showed there were 15 TB-infected herds - down from 20 last year.
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Jack Chambers used to be a skinny little rat but just right for being winched with the wool bales on to lighters heading off Tokomaru Bay s wharf.
He d dressed up in his old man s boots and coat to get a job as a casual wharfie when he was 15.
In those days the wharf at the northern end of the bay was humming.
There was a freezing works, wool store and shipping company nearby, feeding goods out onto the concrete and wooden structure via a small railway.
Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
It was bustling even at night, Grant Dargie remembers. He lives in the old harbour master s house now where there s a fine view of the crumbling wharf below.