Picking up after Cyclone Seroja

Severe tropical cyclone Seroja crossed the coast of Western Australia on 11 April, bringing destructive winds that wrecked homes, uprooted trees and left farming communities isolated and without power.

As always, the wellbeing of people and communities were first priorities. While the most severe impacts were seen in Kalbarri and Northampton, cyclone Seroja kept up its intensity for hundreds of kilometres, causing significant damage to farming communities at Yuna and Nabawa as well as further south at Mingenew, Carnamah, and Coorow. Elders Geraldton’s Branch Manager, George Panayotou, said the cyclone tracked over his place at around 9:00 pm on Sunday evening. By early Monday morning, he was at the branch to assess the damage. “I remember thinking it was strange that the gates were closed, but the roller doors were wide open,” he said. “Then when I came into the yard, I saw that the roller doors had blown inside on top of all our merchandise and the wind pressure had blown out the skylights.” At this point, his response priorities were people, power and products. George was able to hire a generator, which powered the fridges and protected their stock of animal health vaccines, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It also powered many priceless cups of tea and coffee. “The main thing was to get the kettle on, and everybody’s spirits rose after that,” he said. After contacting all the staff from Geraldton and Northampton to check on their safety, George and the Elders team also followed through with practical and emotional support, including arranging emergency accommodation where necessary. “Some of our people had been hit hard. Having your roof blown off while you’re lying in bed at night, that’s a major shock,” “Everybody reacts differently in times of adversity. Some people need to be busy with a broom and others need time out, but in the aftermath, the one thing the cyclone did was bring us all together. That was probably the most positive thing to come out of it.”

SUPPORT FOR ELDERS PEOPLE

“The support from Elders was sensational,” said George. “The company really lived up to its promise of supporting our people and communities. “We didn’t feel as though we had to go it alone, in fact there was an army of support behind us. We knew that at any time we could pick up the phone and there was somebody there to help.” The Elders Staff Foundation fund also provided much needed monetary support to the 30 local staff and their families. Up to $2000 was paid to individuals severely affected by the cyclone, while a minimum of $150 was provided to staff to help restock their fridges after nearly a week without power. “We were all affected in some way, so that money deposited straight into our bank accounts just kept us going when we needed it,” George said. All Elders staff are invited to be members of the Elders Staff Foundation fund for just $1.15 per fortnight, giving them the chance to help out Elders people in times of natural disaster or personal tragedy. The funds collected from staff are matched dollar for dollar by Elders.

SUPPORT FOR FARMING COMMUNITIES

During the ongoing clean-up in the Northampton and Geraldton branches, Elders continued to be there for its local farming community. George said many growers were facing severe stress and were struggling to cope, so reaching out and putting them in touch with friends and neighbours was critical. In the following weeks, they were also able to visit clients and offer disaster relief terms that would see them through to after harvest. “That was so important in just taking the pressure off and helping growers make the most of the cracking season.” George said the best way Elders was able to support local farmers was by continuing to supply fertilisers, fungicides and everything else needed to get their crops established and protected through to harvest. “In a lot of ways, we’ve had to just push the cyclone impact aside and get on with the job,” he said. “The rain this year has been a blessing for growers and they are determined to make the most of it. Everyone’s saying it’s a one in 20 year season.”

WORMS ARE GROWING INCREASINGLY RESISTANT TO PARASITICIDES

Studies show infected cattle underperform by 7.4 per cent (pc) in average daily weight gain1 and can have 5.4pc lower feed intake1. Dr Matthew Petersen, Livestock Operations Manager at Zoetis recommends that producers consider six questions before selecting a cattle drench:

> Is the drench being used for weaners and young, growing cattle? > Are they buying cattle in or bringing cattle back from agistment blocks? > Are cattle being inducted into a backgrounding or feedlot facility? > Have they been disappointed by previous results from drenching? > Have they had parasite resistance diagnosed on your farm? > Do they also need to control ticks and/or lice? If a producer answered ‘Yes’ to any of these questions, the producer should consider using a dual active drench to ensure a high efficacy worm kill and to either prevent parasite resistance developing on your farm or break existing resistance profiles, said Dr Petersen.

THE BENEFITS OF DECTOMAX V

Dectomax V has just been released to the market. It’s Australia’s first injectable dual active drench. Dectomax V is ideal for all weaners and young, growing cattle which are most economically impacted by worms. Given its very high treatment efficacy, Dectomax V is ideal as a quarantine/ induction drench to prevent resistance worms entering a farm with brought in stock. It can also be used in replacement breeding stock, such as replacement heifers and where necessary can be used in adult cattle. It’s an ideal product for use on entry to backgrounding and at induction prior to feedlot entry to ensure resistant worms don’t hinder weight gain. Dectomax V is an evolution from Dectomax which has been trusted and used across Australia for over 20 years. Dectomax V combines the trusted performance of doramectin, from Dectomax, with the added strength of levamisole. Dectomax V is the first injectable ML/Levamisole combination product registered in Australia and provides a dual active killing power with unsurpassed efficacy against key parasites, including those often resistant to other single active drenches.2-15 Dectomax V was also compared to leading drenches in Australia and the results were outstanding with an overall mean efficacy of 99.8pc across 13 studies16. However, two leading single active ML drenches used for comparison both showed results less than 95pc, indicating a growing level of resistance to this drench class. Providing high efficacy, this broad spectrum parasiticide with new dual active technology is designed to kill the most damaging parasites, including resistant worms. Easy injectable administration results in highly reliable dosing. In addition to treating gastrointestinal worms, it also controls cattle tick and sucking lice.

DECTOMAX V PRODUCT CLAIMS

> For the treatment and control of adult and L4 larval (immature) stages of gastrointestinal worms, including both macrocyclic lactone and levamisole resistant strains > For the treatment and control of

Cattle tick – prevents development of viable ticks for 30 days after treatment > For the treatment and control of

Sucking lice – 56 days > Safe for use in calves from three months of age and at all stages of pregnancy > MEAT WHP & ESI: 35 days Refer to product label for registered label claims.

REFERENCES

1. Stromberg, B. E., et al. (2012). “Cooperia punctata: effect on cattle productivity?” Vet Parasitol 183 (3-4): 284-291. 2.Zoetis Inc. DECTOMAX V Australian Product Information. 2021.

3-15: Zoetis Studies: A3580, A3595, A3596, A3798, A3881, A3809, A3858, A3861, A3862, A3863, A3864, A3860, A3859. Data on file. 16. Overall mean efficacy (GM) of 99.8% across thirteen field studies. Zoetis data on file.