Crofting

treatment options, as well as a lack of awareness of some relevant industry guidelines.

For example, some farmers rely on clinical signs alone to rule out the possibility that newly purchased sheep are infested with sheep scab before mixing them with their flock. This activity poses a high risk for introducing sheep scab into previously uninfected flocks.

The inadequacy of some farmers’ quarantine rules, or their inability to follow them, was also reported by farmers as being the cause of their flock infestation,” he added.

Quarantine Procedures for Scab Control Adopting strict quarantine procedures for any incoming sheep and understanding the entire contamination route are vital to curb its spread.

Mr Crawford explained: “The sheep scab mite can live off sheep for 16- 17 days, so quarantine isn’t just as simple as putting sheep in a separate field; it is about understanding the entire contamination route. This includes everything sheep come into contact with from the trailer through to fences in the yard,” he said.

When in quarantine, Mr Crawford recommended that animals remain there for 3-4 weeks and two weeks after arrival (no earlier), blood testing 12 animals from each group using the blood ELISA test. This would indicate whether the group of sheep had been exposed to scab and whether treatment was necessary. The test costs about £84 for 12 animals, excluding vet fees and P&P.

When animals need treatment, the correct product must be used and the instructions must be followed, with Mr Crawford expressing his disappointment at how many poor treatments were reported in the survey.

“It highlights that there’s still work to be done to remove any misunderstanding around treatments and to keep reinforcing the Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) guidelines.”

Treatment Options The SCOPS recommended treatment choice for scab includes:

Plunge dipping using an organophosphate (OP) dip.

Using an injectable group 3-ML such as CYDECTIN 2% LA. This treats scab infestations and prevent re-infestations for 60 days from a single injection.

Treatment choice comes down to the most practical option for that farmer and ensuring the product is administered correctly according to its guidelines.

“The main thing when treating for scab is that you do it properly, whether using an injectable or a dip, “he stressed.

SCOPS has worked with Zoetis, the makers of CYDECTIN 2% LA, to produce a Code of Practice for using injectables, which can be found on the SCOPS website https://www.scops.org.uk/ workspace/pdfs/best-practice-useof-injectable-scab-treatments.pdf

Vet Ally Ward from Zoetis added: “The results highlight that many treatments are being misused, which hinders the control of scab and can also increase resistance to the product.

For example, some injectables, such as doramectin or ivermectin, do not have any licensed persistency. This means sheep can pick up scab mites immediately after treatment. So, if one of these is used, the treated sheep should be put into a ‘clean’ field and not returned to the same field they have just come out of. It is also essential to treat all sheep in a flock/mob on the same day.

A £220,00 project is now underway in Northern Ireland to help tackle the disease. The money is being used to fund farmer meetings, vet meeting, on farm visits and data collection.

For more information email info@animalhealthni.com.

Crofting is the model for future sustainable land use

By Patrick Krause, Chief Executive, Scottish Crofting Federation

In my last column I pointed out how poorly received the Scottish Government’s consultation on an agriculture bill has been. Many agriculture policy advisory groups, not least the Farming and Food Production Future Policy Group and the Farmer-led Climate Change Groups, put considerable time and effort into drafting detailed recommendations for Scottish Government, yet, more than six years after the decision to leave the EU, the consultation only raises vague and often leading questions as to the powers that are necessary to provide agricultural support. The proposed 4-tier framework and conditionality causes more uncertainty than it explains.

However, we gritted out teeth and prepared a comprehensive response, calling for details on how the Scottish Government is going to use its powers and demanding the support crofting needs, that is omitted from the proposals. The new Scottish Agriculture Policy would be centred around four outcomes: climate change mitigation and adaptation, nature restoration, high-quality food production and rural development, all of which we support, of course. But we are concerned that measures may not be designed with crofting in mind.

Payments across tiers need to be accessible to crofters, including support to active land management in areas of High Nature Value, which invariably face natural constraints and are handicapped by peripherality. Support is needed for naturefriendly traditional practices such as the growing and breeding of heritage varieties and rare breeds, local and high-quality food production and rural development including community building.

Crofting and low-impact agriculture should be at the heart of the new Agricultural Policy. This means that conditions need to be proportional but also that we need to talk about how funds are distributed - for too long agricultural payments have favoured the largest businesses. Crofting is delivering on the vision of the Scottish Government, and it is now up to the Government to better support crofting.