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The weather has been typical June fare: frosty mornings, plus or minus a fog that curls the tomatoes and closes the airport, interspersed with south-westerly fronts. The latter has brought good rain to many areas of the north. Sadly, the east coast, lower midlands and Derwent Valley are struggling to desperate.
The worm report is much the same as last month: Merino weaners are vulnerable unless you are one of the two people in the state who use smart grazing. Light Merino ewes are similarly vulnerable. Cross-bred (XB) lambs are likely exposed to high contamination if they are grazing grass-dominant circles (which they probably are because the clover and lucerne circles have just about shut down). XB ewes look excellent and are generally returning low worm egg counts (WECs).
Timing: At an MLA/AWI co-event yesterday I delivered my usual spiel about the judicious use of long-acting (LA) drench products. They are beloved of Tasmanian sheep producers, and they make running Merino weaners through winter, and lambing, oh so easy. The thing is that they can contribute to drench resistance and the clients with the worse mectin resistance status are those who have had an unrelenting affair with long-acting products. The audience was a bit arms-folded, yeah-yeah, we’ve heard it all before. During question time a southern producer affirmed that he had used LA products for years, had great worm control but that the mectins were now essentially stuffed.
Thank you, Will, your timing was exquisite. Listen to him if not to me. There is nothing wrong with using an LA product if you really need to, but it ill-behoves us to use them so relentlessly that mectin resistance develops to the point that they do not work when they are needed. And for the record, rotating between moxidectin injectable and mectin-containing capsules is unlikely to significantly slow mectin resistance, as there is no break from this drench group.
So, in 2019: As indicated in the introduction,wormboss the winter is shaping as a grim affair in many parts of the state. So, to take a bite on the corncob, here are the suggestions for Tasmania for winter drenching.
Cattle: A reminder that the early winter drench for weaned calves should have been given by now. Most adult cattle are travelling well (CS>3). Also consider using an oral, non-mectin drench to give the mectin injectables and back-liners a rest.