Greyabbey farm walk looks at parasite control

John Martin is one of seven NI farmers who has been working with AgriSearch over the past two years as part of an European Innovation Partnership (EIP) project looking at the practicality of implementing targeted and selective use of anthelmintics on commercial farms. At the event John discussed the reasons he got involved in the project, the benefits and challenges that arose and the decision making processes on his farm with regards parasite control.

John was joined by Professor Eric Morgan and Dr Chris McFarland from Queens University, Belfast who provided an overview of the wider findings of the EIP project across the Dairy, Beef and Sheep sectors as well as providing an overview of the practical steps that can be taken when beginning to consider targeted selective treatment of anthelmintics on farm, such as taking samples for faecal egg counts.

Bruce Thompson, a Nuffield scholar from Portlaoise shared his experience of how dung beetles have helped reduce parasite burdens and anthelmintic use on his farm. He provided a practical demonstration of how to identify dung beetles in the field.

AgriSearch have placed a number of resources on parasite control and targeted selective treatment of anthelmintics on their website including boards from the farm walk, a webinar recording and case studies from the dairy, beef and sheep farmers who participated in the European Innovation Partnership project on targeted selective treatment of anthelmintics.

AgriSearch’s General Manager Jason Rankin said: “Parasite control is becoming more and more challenging on farms as anthelmintic resistance increases. There are a number of steps that farmers can take to slow down the anthelmintic resistance of parasite on their farms. In addition to the resources we have placed on our website, AgriSearch also supports the invaluable work of both SCOPS (Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep) and COWS (Control of Worms Sustainably – promoting sustainable control of cattle parasites) and we would encourage farmers to avail themselves of the wide range of material available on their websites.

“While the EIP project is now at an end, AgriSearch will be continuing to work with Queen’s University on new projects related to parasite control and further details of these will be announced soon.”