Mr. Tadhg Gavin:

I will try to answer the questions in order. One of the main reasons for the change in antiparasitics is development of resistance has been established. What does resistance to anthelmintic mean for a dairy, beef or sheep farmer? It means the drugs we traditionally use get benefit from the use of grassland pasture management to grow our cattle no longer work against parasites. It is a natural occurrence in these drugs but it is driven by overuse. These drugs are used more frequently than they need to be and at the incorrect time and dosage.

The knock on effect is these parasites which cause welfare and performance losses in cattle and sheep are not killed off as effectively as before. Calf rearing units see significant resistance to some of the main drugs categories for stomach worms. This has a huge impact on performance and animal welfare.

Some farms are now limited in what drugs will work which drives cost because the choice of drugs available is limited and they are often restricted to the few newer drugs. The level of production they can achieve is reduced and feed and conversion efficiency is reduced and the animals do not thrive. Animals not being able to thrive is a major cost to farms. We address this by using the right dose at the right time and when necessary.

Fecal egg counts have been bandied about. It is a useful test practitioners use on a regular basis to establish a parasite burden on a farm or in an animal but it is not without limitations. It does not detect prepatent infection which is infection before the eggs are laid. Nematodirus in sheep is a major issue. Hoose lungworm infection in cattle will not be detected until it is too late in terms of a fecal egg count. We embrace these tests. They are a string in our bow in the treatment and management of parasites on a farm but they are not the gold standard. It would be foolish and dangerous to rely on the interpretation of fecal egg counts when prescribing anthelmintics.

Veterinary practitioners need their farm clients to be profitable. How does veterinary intervention bring value to a farm? The recently implemented CellCheck programme is a good example. The main point of carrying out dry cow consults is to reduce the amount of antibiotics used and to move away from blanket dry cow therapy. There is an initial key saving for the farmer in that he is not purchasing unnecessary antibiotics. These consults are to reduce antibiotics but also to consider the reasons for using them.

Antibiotics are used to treat a disease. We consider why the antibiotics are being used rather than considering the supply routes and who prescribes them. Vets see why the diseases are on farms when they visit and what can be done to negate the risk, therefore reducing the need for antibiotics. CellCheck is a good example of how vets going on to farms can reduce cost and improve productivity.

Knowledge transfer is another programme which was run in recent years. A recent paper which considered its results showed how sheep mortality decreased following this programme. Farm outputs were improved and overall costs were reduced.