Levies paid by farmers

Levies you pay for cattle

If you have beef or dairy animals you pay a levy for NAIT, TBFree or M. bovis:

• On their NAIT tag
• When they are slaughtered
• When they are exported
• When milksolids are sold to processors

NAIT tag levy

The tag levy for cattle is $1.35 (ex GST) per tag. The levy is included in the cost of the tags at purchase. 

NAIT slaughter levy

The NAIT slaughter levy for each animal is $1.91 (ex GST). Meat processors collect this levy.

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:

• $14.50 (ex GST) per head for dairy cattle
• $4.50 (ex GST) per head for beef cattle

The maximum levy rate allowed is:

• $15.00 (ex GST) per head for dairy cattle
• $8.50 (ex GST) per head for beef cattle

NAIT unsafe-to-tag (UTT) levy

You can only send UTT animals to meat processors. They collect $13.00 (ex GST) for each animal, as well as the standard slaughter levy of $1.91 (ex GST)

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

You can update this yourself in NAIT: How to update animal production type

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.

Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) cattle levy

The M. bovis cattle levy is collected to support funding of the M. bovis programme on behalf of beef and dairy industries.

The levy is applied to the production of milk solids for dairy cattle, and animals slaughtered for beef cattle.

Each year, the levy rates are reviewed and when necessary, adjusted to reflect the latest shifts in the relative size and value of each industry.

The rates are:

• 0.0 cents (ex GST) per kilogram of milksolids produced in New Zealand by a dairy farmer for supply to a dairy processor
• 0.0 cents (ex GST) per head for beef cattle slaughtered.

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. Funding for NAIT and TBfree are included in the DINZ levy, at rates of:

• For TBfree New Zealand:
  • Venison 4.5 cents per kilogram
  • Velvet 35 cents per kilogram
    
    
• For NAIT Limited:
  • Venison 0.55 cents per kilogram

These are included in the DINZ levy, find out more on the Deer Industry New Zealand website.

Levies you pay for live exports of cattle and deer

The TB levy for live cattle and deer that are exported is $11.50 (ex GST) per head, with a maximum levy allowed of $15.00 (ex GST) per head.

For more information: