National Sheep Association

sheep United message from sheep sector experts on the use of newer wormer actives

Sheep farmers are being urged to start using the newer group 4-AD and 5-SI wormers now, to help meet crucial productivity metrics and slow a concerning upward trend in wormer resistance.

In an open letter to the sheep industry, National Sheep Association (NSA), the Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep group (SCOPS), Moredun Research Institute and the Sheep Veterinary Society (SVS), highlighted that despite the presence of anthelmintic resistance on 98% of farms, 85% of farmers still believe that the wormers they use are working as well as they always had.

This is largely down to the fact that the majority of sheep farmers do not monitor treatment effcacy or growth rates, and they are therefore not being alerted to what is essentially an invisible, yet highly consequential, problem.

According to vet Matt Colston, ruminant technical consultant at Elanco Animal Health, this is a dangerous strategy, and many farmers are inadvertently increasing the growth of resistance to group 1,2 or 3 wormers, while also limiting effciency and proftability.

“Because most farmers can’t physically see the reduction in lamb performance, they’re often reluctant to adopt new management practices. Yet we know, swapping a dose of an older group 1,2 or 3 wormer to a group 4-AD (orange) or group 5-SI (purple) wormer in the latter part of the grazing season, will give a visible improvement in performance in most cases, as worms left by previous treatments are removed,” says Mr Colston.

“Integrating the newer group wormers now will also slow the development of resistance to the older group 1,2 and 3 wormers. This is crucial, because once resistance has developed it’s irreversible, and we want as many available worm treatment options as possible, for as long as possible.”

SCOPS advises that one of the two newer groups to be used on all sheep farms at two points in their worm control plan. Firstly, as part of their quarantine treatments for all incoming sheep, and secondly as a one-off treatment for lambs, in the latter part of the grazing season.

“To gain the maximum beneft from the treatment for lambs, it’s important that the wormer is given towards the end of the grazing season - as a midlate season break dose - and when a treatment is deemed necessary though a signifcant worm egg count. All lambs remaining on the farm should be treated,” says Mr Colston.

To avoid the risk of resistance to the newer group 4-AD and 5-SI wormers, he emphasises that it is very important to not dose and move lambs to cleaner grazing straight away. Lambs should be returned to the same felds for four or fve days before moving them.

To help support the transition to a more sustainable worm control programme, producers are encouraged to use the Sheep Wormer Checker to inform decisions as to which wormer to use when.

Find the checker here: https:// www.farmanimalhealth.co.uk/ sheep/sheep-worms/sheepwormer-checker

By Grace Reid, NSA Scottish Region Coordinator

Yet again, the year has flown by and we have made it to September! The peak of our lamb crop is coming on nicely and the traditional buzz is already starting for the tup and breeding stock sales. Thankfully, we have even managed a few weeks of hay weather which is safely stashed away for those long winter months which will hopefully show us some mercy into 2022.

Every lambing, we all get that excitement when we see a ewe labouring to produce a lamb which theoretically is the most advanced and superior genetic combination of its time. Whether it be a tup or a ewe lamb, there is high hopes for it ultimately to become a flock progressor or in some cases a flock builder. Each step of its growth is engrained in memory alongside those who came before it - a true genius of stockmanship.

Uncertainty is the normal when it comes to selling livestock. We all have a rough idea when we have something special but when putting a value on things it can be hard to pinpoint exactly where the hammer will fall. Even the more experienced shepherds still get that feeling of ambiguity just before they step into the ring with the labours of the past year (and many more) on show for the world to see. Heading into the winter months, we are still none the wiser about some of the consequences of the raft of things we seem to be juggling. However, we do know that at every step we have someone who is willing to go the extra mile to ensure that sheep remain a priority to sustainably fuel future generations. No matter what type of sheep enterprise can be found, they all have a purpose to fulfil. This is the true beauty about our industry – there is something for everyone!