Black Seed a Black Mark for Woeful Biosecurity
new-zealand-first-party
Wed Sep 14 2016 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Black Seed a Black Mark for Woeful Biosecurity
Wednesday, 14 September 2016, 11:08 am
Press Release: New Zealand First Party
Richard Prosser MP
Spokesperson for Biosecurity
14 SEPTEMBER 2016
BLACK SEED A BLACK MARK FOR WOEFUL BIOSECURITY
New Zealand First is aghast at the amateurish way that the highly serious black-grass seed incursions in Canterbury have been handled by Biosecurity NZ.
“Is the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) so hard up that it cannot afford to destroy dangerous biosecurity material?” says New Zealand First Biosecurity Spokesperson Richard Prosser.
“That is the worrying implication from the Official Information that has been released to us on the black grass seed incursions in Canterbury – one of the world’s worst plant pests.
“Unbelievably, the seed dressing waste or offal from the 2013 harvest, where black-grass seed was found, wasn’t incinerated but was instead sent to a pig farm. After that MPI washed its hands ‘due to the lapse in time’ so the resulting manure has likely been spread onto a number of farms.
“The only lapse here is at MPI’s end because it happened all over again this year.
“In March, black-grass was again found but this time in New Zealand grown ryegrass and that is of huge concern. So did MPI incinerate it? No, it again went to a farm where this time ‘it was dumped onto the base of the calf-rearing shelter as bedding’.
“While that is frankly unbelievable what makes it worse is that no one at MPI thought it was a good idea to test until last month. That they haven’t found anything yet isn’t a marker of success.
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“So what is happening to this suspect material? MPI is leaving it to the farmer to dig a hole in the middle of a key seed growing area and ‘compost’ it. The fact that MPI is belatedly initiating surveillance measures is hopelessly bolting the door after the horse has bolted,” says Mr Prosser.
THE BIOSECURITY HOLES OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES MINISTER NATHAN GUY
New Zealand First has a reply under the Official Information Act while below are written answers from the Minister for Primary Industries:
_Question: What is the state of the Blackgrass incursion in Canterbury, if any, and was straw from affected paddocks supplied to a large Canterbury feedlot and have farmers who have received manure from that same feedlot been advised of the potential for Black Grass contamination?
_
Answer: Black-grass seed has only been detected in ryegrass harvested from one property. No black grass plants have been detected in Canterbury. No straw from affected paddocks has been supplied to any Canterbury feedlots.
Question: Can he advise of the location and status of the feed dressing waste from affected lines containing Black Grass Seed, if any?
Answer: All of the waste (offal) from the original feed dressing was delivered to a property near Eiffelton, Mid-Canterbury. It is being used for calf bedding. The bedding was officially tested for black-grass seed and none was detected. Disposal of the bedding will be coordinated with MPI.
_Question: Can he confirm that straw from black grass affected paddocks have been fully tracked and destroyed; and if not, why not?
_
Answer: All straw has been fully tracked and destruction options are actively being worked on.
ENDS
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