increase font size
Drenching should be just one small part of a parasite management plan.
Drench resistance is common.
It is increasing in all drench families (and combinations) and poses a real risk to the viability of livestock farming. The balance of reducing the risk of drench resistance, while still managing worms (internal parasites) so production and animal welfare do not suffer involves compromise.
The risk of drench resistance development can be evaluated and steps taken to minimise it:
Drenching should be just one small part of a parasite management plan.
Having spent more than 23 years in the New Zealand dairy industry as a dairy farmer, technical adviser, and dairy farm consultant, including seven years working directly with farmers to improve herd performance and profitability, I have learned that outstanding fertility results rarely happen by chance.
Worms are present on every farm; it’s ensuring there are enough worms that are susceptible to drench within your farm system, through the use of refugia, that is a key tool in slowing the rise of drench resistance.
A dairy industry leader believes eradicating the common and costly disease, Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) is within reach.
With ewes and lambs coming to the yards at tail docking, it's tempting to drench the ewes 'while they're here'. Wormwise vet Mary Bowron urges farmers to consider the variables before getting out the drench gun. Do ewes actually need a drench at tail docking? Well, it depends.
Farmers with high-quality feed available in late spring could consider weaning at least a proportion of their lamb crop early to benefit both lambs and ewes.
Three men have been sentenced in District Courts after Ministry for Primary Industries prosecutions over animal welfare, food safety and cattle tracing offences.
Fonterra’s 2026 financial year was a year of delivery, with record volumes of milk collected, processed and shipped by the co-op.
OPINION: The Government's decision to reinstate agriculture and horticultural science as a standalone subject from Year 11 is the right one.
Dairy farmers, still holding onto their Fonterra shares despite switching milk supply elsewhere or exiting the industry, now face a stricter share sell-down requirement.
Hamilton-based agritech company Aimer Farming has completed a $3 million capital raise to support its next stage of growth, including a beef farming product due to launch in 2027.
When dairy manager Miriam Lauridsen learned the farm, she was joining held weekly health and safety meetings, she initially thought that was “a bit over the top”. Experiencing that culture changed her mind.
OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities…
OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in…
