Levies paid by farmers
You pay levies for your cattle and deer to help fund our NAIT and TBfree programmes.
Levies you pay for cattle
If you have beef or dairy animals you pay a levy for NAIT or TBfree:
- on their NAIT tag
- when they are slaughtered
- when they are exported.
NAIT tag levy
The tag levy for cattle is $0.97 (plus GST) per tag. When you buy tags, you pay the levy as part of the cost.
NAIT slaughter levy
The NAIT slaughter levy for each animal is $1.49 (plus GST). Meat processors collect this levy.
NAIT unsafe-to-tag (UTT) levy
You can only send UTT animals to meat processors. They collect $13 (plus GST) for each animal, as well as the standard slaughter levy of $1.49 (plus GST).
TB differential slaughter levy
Meat processors also collect a TB levy for cattle at slaughter to help fund the TBfree programme. Rates differ for dairy and beef cattle. They are:
- $11.50 (plus GST) per head for dairy cattle
- $4.75 (plus GST) per head for beef cattle.
The maximum levy rate allowed is $15 per head for dairy cattle, and $8.50 per head for beef cattle.
How meat processors charge the right TB slaughter levy
Meat processors use the production type of your animals, as recorded in NAIT, to charge the correct levy.
Before you send cattle to slaughter, check that you have given your animals the correct:
- production type — that is, beef or dairy
- farm production type — this is used to decide the TB slaughter levy for any untagged animals.
Dairy animals finished as beef
You'll be charged the levy for beef if you changed the production type of your animals from dairy to beef 62 days or more before slaughter.
If you've been charged the wrong TB slaughter levy
Contact us to enquire about levy charges if you think they aren't correct. We'll evaluate the information you give us through our disputes procedure. In some cases we may be able to update or amend the production type in your NAIT account after cattle have been sent to a meat processor.
Levies you pay for deer
Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) is funded by levies you pay when you harvest deer velvet or the animals are slaughtered.
There are different rates for fallow deer.
Levies you pay for live exports of cattle and deer
The TB levy for live cattle and deer that are exported is $11.50 (plus GST) per head, with a maximum levy allowed of $15 (plus GST) per head.