Originally Posted by
BlackPeter
Read the article again.
It is not Mycoplasma bovis (MB) creating these effects, but Mastitis (which can be caused by MB). No farmer will allow to have a significant number of cows with mastitis, because this is a condition which leads (if untreated) quite fast to the exitus of the respective animal. I.e. this might be (given bad enough living conditions for the herd) an issue for animal mortality, but no material issue for milk quality ...
I think as well that the overall impact of MB is widely exaggerated. It is endemic in all other parts of the world - without (given proper farm management) any significant impact on milk production.
I am grown up in Europe and used to live in an area with plenty of dairy farmers (and knew several of them quite well). MB was never an issue for any of them. However - they tend to look better after their animals than the typical NZ farmer does, they provide shelter for the animals, they have typically a lower animal density per hectar (and smaller herds) and they keep the animals cleaner. Wouldn't it be great if a disease would force NZ farmers to look a bit better after their animals?