B.AHE.0308-Designing farm specific nematode control programs for sheep
Did you know a tool is available to describe epidemiology of nematode infections?
| Project start date: | 28 February 2017 |
| Project end date: | 01 February 2022 |
| Publication date: | 29 June 2022 |
| Project status: | Completed |
| Livestock species: | Sheep |
| Relevant regions: | NSW, Victoria |
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Download Report
(4.4 MB)
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Summary
Control of internal parasites has become harder and more complex as the prevalence and severity of drench resistance has increased. Components of integrated control programs are well known but poorly adopted by sheep producers because they are uncertain of benefits. Provision of a mathematical model/tool describing the epidemiology of nematode infection may aid in the design regional control programs and support the development of farm-specific integrated parasite management programs. Such a tool may thereby encourage adoption of integrated control programs by demonstrating benefit and mitigating against negative consequences in a manner specific for each farm.
Objectives
The objective of this project was to develop a mathematical model capable of predicting pasture infectivity, worm burdens, drug resistance and the productive and financial consequences arising from the combination of various options for parasite control. Following the development of an appropriate mathematical model, a user-friendly interface will be developed to generate a tool and facilitate use of the mathematical model for the purpose of improving regional control programs and supporting the development of farm-specific programs. Further, validation studies were carried out in New South Wales and Victoria to assess the predictive capacity of the model outputs.
Key findings
A mathematical model and consequent tool (currently found at turnedworm-uat.une.edu.au) were successfully developed. Comparison between model predictions and field data was used to assess the predictive capacity of the model outputs. This identified some of the weaknesses of the model and a requirement to reassess the parameter estimates previously reported within available literature.
Benefits to industry
Use of the mathematical model via the tool will encourage adoption of integrated control programs by demonstrating benefit and mitigating against negative consequences in a manner specific for each farm.
Future research
The tool should be used to generate industry and academic communications to facilitate its adoption via demonstrating the benefit of parasite control and elucidating negative interactions between parasite control options. The tool would benefit from continuing development of the underlying mathematical model to address the weaknesses identified by the validation study, and reassess parameter estimates to provide reliable prediction of the consequences of parasite control. Finally, further optimisation of the model code should be carried out to speed up processing time to improve user experience. Aside from these technical improvements, a key step will be to maximise the value for the sheep industry from the tool and open-source code. This can be achieved by integration with MLA and industry programs and web resources.
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For more information Contact Project Manager: Sharon Dundon |
