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What happens if my farm comes under suspicion?

If our tracing of cattle from infected farms suggests your farm may be at risk, you'll get a call from our casing team. This is likely to be because you have received animals, milk, or other risk goods from a farm of interest – a Restricted Property (RP) or Infected Property (IP).

The caller will ask questions about animals you’ve brought onto your farm and when you brought them there.

The timing of movements may be enough to rule you out, but if not, we'll call you again to book in testing.

How you'll know if your farm is under surveillance

If we call again to book in the first round of testing, you'll know your farm is under surveillance.

The timeframe depends on the urgency – higher risk farms will be contacted more quickly. We aim to call to book testing within one or two days from knowing a farm needs to go under surveillance.

What happens next

Testing can take some weeks and your farm may need several rounds of tests to confirm the disease or freedom from it. Your farm is likely to have a Notice of Direction issued during testing, this is a legal notice given to a farm that dictates how animals can move on and off the farm.

If infection is confirmed, controls on your farm would be strengthened from a Notice of Direction to a Restricted Place Notice and all cattle would need to be culled – at a time that worked for you.

Your own case manager (known as an Incident Control Point (ICP) Manager) would work with you on plans for your farm. All your cattle will be culled according to the plan we agree with you.

How eradication will work for infected farms

Support for farmers

We understand this will be painful for farmers who are affected and farming communities.

If you are a farmer and need support, help is available through your industry group representative, individual response case manager, or the Rural Support Trust.

Industry representatives

We're calling on rural communities to support each other, especially affected farmers and those that appear to be finding it hard. If you have any concerns about someone you know, contact the Rural Support Trust or other community support services.

Who to contact

If you have questions about Mycoplasma bovis:

MPI business units