Draft Regulations To Check Nassella Spread In Fleeces

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28447, 29 November 1957, Page 23

Draft Regulations To Check Nassella Spread In Fleeces

to A r™H. ft i °L regulations designed The board, which has been asked rii™„Jli COmn l ents on the draft. inL eC^f d , a s ub-cominittee consisting of farmer members to study the proposals and report back to Mr A. R. Dingwall, fields superA l l edd^!’ t of . the Department of Agriculture in Christchurch who ,-7 1€ ™ ber ,°t the board, said that the board had earlier agreed m principle that something on these lines should be done. He believed that it had resolved that the department should look into some such regulations and refer them to it for consideration before taking positive action. e draft regulations provide that no person shall sell or offer for sale, or shall cause to be sold or offered for sale, by public aucUou or private contract, any sheep with fleeces containing nassella

tussock seed. Where an in< _ctor is satisfied that the fleece of any sheep offered for sale by public auction or private contract contains any seed he may, by notice in writing, order the owner to withdraw the sheep from sale until such time as it is shown to the satisfaction of an inspector that the sheep is free from seed. Sale for Slaughter The regulations specifically say that nothing in them applies to any sheep sold or offered for sale for immediate slaughter and consigned or delivered to a meat export slaughterhouse or an abattoir within three days of the date of sale.

A person failing to comply with the regulations shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than £5O and in any prosecution it will not be a defence that the defendant was not issued with a notice as provided in the regulations. Mr Dingwall said that three pens of sheep with seed in their wool were found as a result of inspections made at three North Canterbury ew e fairs. All these sheep came from properties known to be heavily infested with nasella, but other sheep from the same properties did not have nassella in their fleeces. To avoid seed infestation in fleeces Mr Dingwall said that a farmer might be able to sell sheep off the shears, although this might be difficult, or he might arrange to graze sheep, which it was intended to sell, on other than nassella seed areas.

It might be said that it would be impossible to prevent sheep becoming contaminated with seed in winds like those which had blown this week, but he did not think that the infestation thereby would be great enough to be detected by other than the very closest inspection. There had to be an appreciable quantity of seed in a fleece before it could be found.

Liability of Seller To Mr G. J. H. Reid. Mr Dingxvall said that where a man knew his sheep had nassella seed in their fleeces and sold them privately to another person and the buyer subsequently detected the infestation and reported it to the department he assumed that the department would be able to take action against the offender. Mr L. R. C. Macfarlane said he hoped that the regulations would not come into force this autumn. It would have the effect of “cutting out all the east coast sheep from the railway to the sea.” It would be a bit hard on the farmers concerned. Mr Macfarlane said he believed that such regulations were a step in the right direction, but it was his view that it would be a dangerous thing to introduce them now.

“I agree that they are not the sort of regulations you would want to bring in over-night,” said Mr Dingwall. He thought the board had agreed that the spread of nassella by this means could be quite serious. There was a strong suspicion that some of the new infestations in outlying areas had been due to seed transferred on sheep. It was a question whether the regulations would impose undue hardship and the timing of their introduction. Mr Reid: Regulations like those could disorganise the whole store lamb trade.

The board then decided to refer the proposed regulations to a subcommittee for study and a report. Mr Macfarlane was named as the convener of the sub-committee.