Plan Now to Prevent Liver Fluke Later

UK - Liver fluke infection risks later in the year can be reduced by appropriate planning now and farmers can improve their knowledge by attending a training workshop.
calendar icon 20 April 2015
clock icon 2 minute read

Fluke is a huge burden to the livestock industry, in terms of loss of production as well as lost opportunities from the fifth quarter.

EBLEX has estimated that liver fluke infections can reduce daily liveweight gains by up to 30% and infected cattle can take up to an extra 80 days to finish.

The recent NADIS parasite forecast has advised livestock producers to reduce pasture contamination by planning grazing and anthelmintic control now to decrease risks of infection.

Innovation for Agriculture (IfA) and Advanced Training Partnership (ATP) will be delivering one day training workshops to dairy, beef and sheep farmers to help them understand how they might reduce the cost of liver fluke infections in livestock through prevention, detection and treatment options.

“Being aware of the risk of liver fluke on your farm and knowing what preventative methods can be put into place to reduce reliance on drugs is an important part of liver fluke control,” said Charlotte Johnston, Technical Specialist with IfA.

Dr Neil MacKintosh from Institute of Biological Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) said: “Liver fluke is often a problem people associate with autumn and winter, but knowing the risks to your livestock in spring and concentrating on problems earlier can save a lot of time and money over the year.”

Farmers can attend the workshops on the following dates:

Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire – Tuesday 5th May
Cockle Park Farm, Morpeth, Northumberland – Wednesday 6th May
Westmorland Agricultural Society, Lane Farm, Cumbria – Thursday 7th May

For more more information on the workshops, visit www.innovationforagriculture.org.uk

 

 

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