Victoria worms, flies and lice update - September 2019

Hamilton: Andrew Whale, Livestock Logic (a.whale@livestocklogic.com.au) and Lexie Leonard, Livestock Logic (l.leonard@livestocklogic.com.au)

Key Points for October

• Weaners and light conditioned ewe mobs will require close monitoring of worm burdens to capitalise on spring pasture
• Consider mobs that will be suitable for a drench resistance trial if you have not done one in the past 3 years
• Newly purchased rams should receive a quarantine drench when coming onto your property (4 active ingredients including at least one of the newer actives)

The weather has remained favourable for lambing over the past month, with spring lambing mobs having good marking results. Feed conditions continue to improve with some timely rain, however, the prediction is still for below-average spring rainfall. With this in mind, it is important to ensure mobs are making the most of green feed while it is available. Prioritise weaner mobs and lighter condition ewes, as these mobs will be most susceptible to worm burdens.

Worm egg count (WEC) results have been variable over properties and between mobs on properties, highlighting the need to monitor all mobs and not just a few. The same story applies for WEC results as last year, and properties with good autumn worm control have maintained relatively low WEC results over winter and into spring. We have seen some dramatic rises in WEC results in mobs that haven’t been tested for over 8 weeks, so this is a timely reminder to check mobs if they haven’t been done since August.

There has been a small amount of fly activity in the past week with the warmer and drier weather, seemingly localised to the north of Hamilton. If you haven’t developed a plan for fly control now would be the time to do so as flies are expected to become a problem in the coming weeks.