More one-to-one or farm-specific engagement regarding anthelmintic resistance with farmers is required, according to returning Nuffield Ireland scholar Nick Cotter.
Presenting on his topic 'Seven new rules for worm control in sheep', getting the basics right was the key to combatting anthelmintic resistance.
He said: “Beef and Lamb New Zealand developed in-person workshops which went over the basics, but then helped farmers build farm-specific plans. Here we are told ‘talk to your vet’ and not all farmers do that.”
As part of his research, he said that farmers should use more than one source when making decisions around their worm dosing practices.
Given the number of variables involved when it comes to taking dung samples for faecal egg counts (FEC), dosing decisions shouldn’t be made on the results alone.
Quality
Quality of the sample, weather and the testing procedure in the lab could all vary, so it was best to combine a number of factors, he said.
With increased demand on time, some farmers are becoming more dependent on data to make their decision and less emphasis on stockmanship to data.
Encouraging farmers to try selective dosing, he added that: “80% of the worms live in 20% of the animals. When it comes to dosing, farmers should dose the majority of lambs, a minority of ewes, but almost never all.”
He also discovered that in New Zealand, combination drenches have been formulated to leave as few worms behind.
The Limerick-based organic sheep farmer was speaking at the Nuffield Ireland conference in Horse and Jockey, Co Tipperary, on Friday.
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