New England sheep producers are facing a particularly tough summer for barber’s pole worm. Despite less than average rain last year, frequent rainfall events in November and December favored development of barber’s pole worm with more producers than normal experiencing worm-related difficulties by Christmas.
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Your chance is now here to prove that worm control can save dollars and make sense on your property, too, by using the WormBoss program. Are you are interested in an easy worm control system that can help you eliminate unnecessary drenches, reduce sheep deaths from worms and gain the confidence to have worms under control?
If so, a new MLA Producer Demonstration Site (PDS) is forming in the New England region to control worms in sheep and producers are invited to sign up.
An informative gathering will be held on the morning of Monday February 15 at Mannum Park, Guyra, where you can find out the worm control measures important for the coming months. You will also hear the ins and outs of participating in this PDS, including the support and advice you’ll get along the way.
If you don’t wish to directly participate at this stage, you are still welcome to attend to learn how to implement the WormBoss program. The morning is free and smoko will be provided.
Deb Maxwell, ParaBoss Operations Manager and sheep producer, who will host the event and present the information. Speaking from her own experience she said that she was able to drop 2–4 drenches per year.
“I get few, if any, deaths from worms, and I’m confident that I’ve got it all under control,” she said. “It wasn’t hard, it was just new.”
Dr Maxwell was excited about the application submitted to MLA, which if successful, would provide participating producers with support and advice to conduct a Drench Resistance Test and to carry out Worm Egg Counts through the year to monitor their progress. Participating producers will implement the WormBoss program on at least one of their ewe and weaner mobs and attend the information mornings to share and discuss their results.
“This project aims to walk people through the yearly worm control program over a number of events where we can see different situations, hear people’s experiences, answer questions and provide guidance and support to keep you on track,” said Dr Maxwell.
If the project is successful, follow up meetings are planned for June and November.