A veterinary contract research company are looking for 80 head of tick infested cattle to participate in an upcoming field trial assessing a novel treatment offering an extended period of protection against the Australian cattle tick.
The study would gather data on the efficacy and safety of a new undisclosed product before a potential release into the market.
With the cattle tick season well underway, production animal research manager Ry Evans said they were seeking predominantly Bos Taurus breeds due to their increased susceptibility to ticks.
"We've successfully collaborated with producers in the Atherton Tablelands region (northern Queensland) as the microclimate of high humidity and rainfall provides sufficient cattle tick numbers to assess novel treatments," he said.
"Further afield we've had challenges as tick numbers have generally been down with the extended dry conditions we're currently experiencing. That's why we're activating alternative communication channels to get in touch with producers that may be interested in participating in such work."
Animals will be divided into separate treatment groups and undergo trial activities for several months, including efficacy assessments in the form of scheduled tick counts. Withholding periods following treatment will be discussed with potential co-operators.
Mr Evans said they had a well-established co-operator network that regularly participated in livestock trials and were compensated accordingly.
"One of the major challenges is identifying suitable co-operators that have an interest in participating in trial work and also have the production systems in place to support study activities," he said.
"Historically, we've found that smaller scale producers tend to have greater flexibility in their management approach and that fits well the type of work we are looking to conduct.
"They may operate a rotational grazing system over multiple paddocks and have the ability to run smaller mobs that can be be managed as separate treatment groups, which is generally what we're looking for.
"Having said that, I'd encourage any producers with a slight interest to participate in trial work to get in touch.
"Co-operators are compensated for their resource time, facility use and animals, which obviously provides an incentive to participate in field work. We don't expect producers to interrupt their routine operations for trial activities without due compensation."
For more information please contact Ry on 0455 027 554.
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
