The government is announcing its decision about whether to eradicate or contain the cattle disease, Mycoplasma bovis.
The disease was discovered in July last year and since then 41 farms have been confirmed as infected. That has since dropped to 37 farms, with more than 11,000 cattle slaughtered.
The bacterium causes illness in cattle, including udder infections, abortion, pneumonia and arthritis.
It does not affect humans and MPI said it presents no food safety risk.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is announcing the government's decision at Federated Farmers' headquarters in Wellington.
Follow live updates here:
The Government is due to announcement on how it will handle Mycoplasma Bovis.
May 28, 2018 4:15 PM
"Our heart goes out to them" - Damien O'Connor sending his thoughts to farmers already affected by M bovis.
"Farmer welfare is at the forefront of everything we are thinking about."
May 28, 2018 4:14 PM
Agriculture minister Damien O'Connor says mass culls are necessary because there is no test that is completely reliable in detecting M bovis.
May 28, 2018 4:12 PM
Jacinda Ardern says attempting eradication is an ambitious plan.
"It is the interest of our country to ensure we are free of Mycoplasma bovis.
"We have this one shot to eradicate, and we are doing it together."
Updated May 28, 2018 4:12 PM
May 28, 2018 4:10 PM
"$870 is the cost of the response, including compensation" - Jacinda Ardern
She says to not act would cost the country $1.3 billion.
May 28, 2018 4:09 PM
We've made this decision in partnership with our farming sector in an effort to protect our national herd - PM Jacinda Ardern
"It was a tough decision".
May 28, 2018 4:07 PM
The government has announced it will to continue trying to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis - with an $886m price tag.
May 28, 2018 3:34 PM
Dr Helen Beattie was a veterinarian working on the foot and mouth response in the UK. She has seen the misery that outbreaks of serious infectious diseases can bring down on the agricultural sector - animals, farmers and their communities. She writes that containing these outbreaks always involves hard choices and significant consequences - there are seldom any easy solutions.
May 28, 2018 3:31 PM
Dairy and beef farmers will today find out whether an attempt will be made to eradicate the cattle-disease Mycoplasma bovis, or instead go for containment.
Mr Bridges this morning told Morning Report it's hard to say what course of action the opposition would take in this situation without seeing the scientific reports.
"The test is, if they have a reasonable, practical shot at eradication, they should still try for that with some off-ramps if they find that actually it's not working."
Mr Bridges said he has been in discussions with the prime minister, Nathan Guy and Damien O'Connor and he expects to be involved in finding a solution.
"We made it clear, let's not be political about this, it's too important, we want to be solutions-oriented."
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