Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Andrew Kelleher: True cost of eradication not yet known
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Andrew Kelleher: True cost of eradication not yet known
Getting rid of Mycoplasma bovis could cost a lot more than $900 million if the disease spreads and more animals have to be culled.
The Government's opted to eradicate rather than manage the cattle disease.
More than 150,000 cattle will have to be destroyed.
JMIS analyst Andrew Kelleher told Mike Hosking there's a lot of uncertainty over what the actual cost will be.
"Once you commit, to eradication if it gets away from you then you get into that uncomfortable place of no return, you've got to keep going and what is the cost of that."
Kelleher says if it doesn't work, you're saddled with the cost of containment anyway.
He says increased farm biosecurity and constraints about stock movement could put us in a similar position as if we'd opted for containment.
He says it's also unclear what upward pressure it will put on commodity prices.
"Overnight it's been suggested you could have the similar potential output as a drought did, because you are taking cows out of the production cycle so it constrains production."
Kelleher that loss of production could be offset by the higher prices that are paid, but that remains to be seen.
LISTEN TO ANDREW KELLEHER TALK WITH MIKE HOSKING ABOVE
View all episodes
By Newstalk ZBGetting rid of Mycoplasma bovis could cost a lot more than $900 million if the disease spreads and more animals have to be culled.
The Government's opted to eradicate rather than manage the cattle disease.
More than 150,000 cattle will have to be destroyed.
JMIS analyst Andrew Kelleher told Mike Hosking there's a lot of uncertainty over what the actual cost will be.
"Once you commit, to eradication if it gets away from you then you get into that uncomfortable place of no return, you've got to keep going and what is the cost of that."
Kelleher says if it doesn't work, you're saddled with the cost of containment anyway.
He says increased farm biosecurity and constraints about stock movement could put us in a similar position as if we'd opted for containment.
He says it's also unclear what upward pressure it will put on commodity prices.
"Overnight it's been suggested you could have the similar potential output as a drought did, because you are taking cows out of the production cycle so it constrains production."
Kelleher that loss of production could be offset by the higher prices that are paid, but that remains to be seen.
LISTEN TO ANDREW KELLEHER TALK WITH MIKE HOSKING ABOVE