NZ’s largest working farm declared TB free for first time in more than 50 years

Wednesday, 9 April 2025

Cattle on Marlborough’s Molesworth Station have been declared free from Bovine Tuberculosis for the first time in more than 50 years.

Livestock on the station have had Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) infested status continuously since 1972 — the longest case recorded in the country.

Now, after a 40-year concerted effort to eradicate TB from its cattle, the work had finally been designated a success.

OSPRI New Zealand, a not-for-profit company that works in partnership with the farming industry to help keep animals disease-free, worked alongside Molesworth Station operator Pāmu Farms (Landcorp Farming Ltd) to reach this milestone.

The work involved large-scale possum control to remove the infection from the possum population, a comprehensive livestock testing programme and a reduction in the number of infected animals through on-farm skin and blood testing.

OSPRI’s chief executive Sam McIvor said Molesworth’s journey to TB freedom was a staged process, and this latest achievement was a significant step in the right direction.

“Pāmu and Molesworth people have been awesome partners in this eradication endeavour,” he said.

“The achievement is a massive one, for Pāmu, the dedicated people of Molesworth, especially manager Jim Ward, and all the OSPRI staff and their former colleagues from all those years back.

“While we have completed possum control in the area, we still have some ongoing surveillance work of both wildlife and livestock to confirm that TB is finally gone.”

Pāmu chief executive Mark Leslie said it sought to innovate in its work to ensure farming activities contributed positively to local ecosystems and communities.

“The scale that Pāmu has enables us to drive innovation for the benefit of the wider industry and our operations at Molesworth are no exception,” he said.

“The station has been home to several significant research projects on the reduction and elimination of bovine TB and control has involved innovating and trying different approaches.”

Leslie acknowledged Molesworth Station’s farm manager Jim Ward for his efforts as he had been on the farm for more than half the period of infection.

“Jim has been a key driver of this status outcome but, of course, it’s been a collaborative effort,” he said.

“The credit for this tremendous success goes to all the people and organisations who have worked for a very long time to make this TB result a reality.”

Spanning almost 181,000ha across the inland Kaikōura mountain range, Molesworth Station was New Zealand’s largest working farm and home to the country’s biggest herd of cattle.