A Waikato farmer has stepped up to reveal his cows are infected with Mycoplasma bovis.
Farmers in the Waikato met on Friday to find out how to stop Mycoplasma bovis and where it is in their community. Henk Smit made the announcement at the meeting.
"Three weeks ago, all of a sudden, there was a positive bovis test on the milk.
"Then there was a week with intermittent results, and since then every pick up has been positive for bovis," Mr Smit says.
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In January the Ministry for Primary Industry found out Henk Smit had put cows on three farms in Cambridge from a now infected farm in Southland.
But it wasn't until four months later that one of those farms tested positive for Mycoplasma bovis.
"I'm fairly frustrated with MPI. I don't fear bovis, I haven't seen anything so far."
Mr Smit says the ministry's approach is disorganised.
"I need a permit to move stock off farm, I got a permit to cull cows in Te Kuiti. I got the permit on the Thursday and then on the Saturday the status of my farm changed to Restricted Places Notices (RPN). Unbeknown to me that made my permit invalid."
The cows were left in the truck in the hot sun for 14 hours while it was decided what to do with them, he says.
The following morning the cows were turned into pet food.
He says because of MPI's mismanagement he's $30,000 out of pocket.
"I'm very frustrated with MPI."
Cabinet will decide on Monday if the response will be to eradicate stock or manage the outbreak.
An MPI spokesperson said, "Tracing this disease is a hugely complex task. In some cases it will take time to ensure accuracy. We cannot comment on individual cases".
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