Facial Eczema Risk Bulletin
for week ended 19 January 2020
| Manawatu South | Manawatu North | Tararua | |
| No. of sites monitored: | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| Highest Spore Count: | 0 | 0 | 5,000 |
| Lowest Spore Count: | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Welcome to the first facial eczema bulletin of the season. There were some concerns prior to Christmas that weather conditions would bring an early start to the season and thankfully this has not become a reality. All spore counts have come in at zero so far and this will be due to cooler nights and lack of rainfall.
For those of you who received our bulletin last year you will notice a couple of changes to our report. The first is that we have removed all reference to weather data. This is predominantly because soil temperatures and rainfall varies across our region and the monitor site for weather could only be used as an indicator for a small area.
The other change is that we are now including readings from Tararua Veterinary Services and can now report on a larger area. Last week they kicked off with a 5,000 spore count at Norsewood. This is nothing to be concerned about at this point and we'll see what happens over the next few weeks.
Check the table below for all site results.
Click here for advice on facial eczema prevention.
Click on the link to download this bulletin as a PDF: 
2020 FE Bulletin #1 (0.31MB)
Spore counts can vary greatly between properties and even between paddocks. We encourage farmers to bring in grass samples to get a more accurate idea of the facial eczema risk on their own property. Contact us if you would like more information on bringing in your own samples for testing.
