Turn for worms

Wormboss consultant Arthur Le Feuvre said that with the little bit of green pick that would be starting to come through and the tendency of sheep to clump together in wet dewy conditions, worms could go “from zero to full bore faster than a Ferrari”.

“Barbers Pole worms are hyperbiotic, which means their larvae can go into hibernation in the gut wall, so they park themselves there until conditions are right,” he said.

“Cold weather isn’t any protection – they’ve been proven to be a significant parasite of sheep in northern Canada.

“People tend to blame the quality of feed when their stock aren’t doing but chances are, worm levels are hovering.”

He said that since the state government had closed its laboratory service last year and worm testing had been privatised, information sharing had decreased and it was now more difficult to see trends.

One of Australia’s major players in the analytical consultancy business is Veterinary Health Research at Armidale.

Their diagnostic lab spokesman Dr Rad Nielsen said that while they probably process as many dung samples as any lab in Australia and hadn’t seen any big burdens at this stage, it would be worthwhile getting baseline tests done now that it had rained, if graziers were starting from a base of not knowing current worm levels.

“It would also be worth checking levels three to four weeks after rain,” he said.

“Nutrition plays a role in making a modest worm burden a problem.

“Low body condition makes it harder to withstand because stock are running on empty.

“Being dry is not a guarantee there’s no problems. Worms are remarkably resilient.”

Dr Radford said it was important to combine testing with effective drenching and grazing strategies, to avoid problems with resistance.

“Sheep producers in our New England area have effectively given up – worms have beaten them because of serious drench resistance issues,” he said.

“The Traprock is going the same way.”

Traprock wool grower David Bartlett received 90mm on his properties outside Warwick last week and said the rain would definitely create an extra worm burden.

Mr Bartlett runs 16,000 Merino wethers and said his flock would be drenched at crutching in a months’ time despite being treated for worms just three weeks ago.

“If we get a bit of warm weather they will start to move pretty quickly,” he said.

“We had been getting a few odd showers and were getting counts of 750 to 1000 eggs but this big rain will really pick things up now.”

Mr Bartlett was using the state government owned laboratory service in Brisbane until it was closed last year.

“We used to be able to post our worm tests in the afternoon and have a result back the next day but since they closed it down I decided to buy a few microscopes and do the testing myself,” he said.

“I did a course on it years ago and did a refresher last year so I knew what I was looking for.”

Mr Le Feuvre said often the biggest loss graziers had was in wool cut and staple strength decreases.

“In the years when you should be stacking money in the bank, worms can be taking that money off you,” he said.

“I really urge people to do the testing and cut them off at the knees, and don’t suffer those invisible losses.”

He also said it was important not to drench “just in case” with a single active drench that might not give an adequate kill, as this would enhance the breeding of resistant worms.