Holstein Friesian NZ partners with leading livestock company
Holstein Friesian NZ and Link Livestock have agreed on a strategic partnership to provide HFNZ members with comprehensive services from one of New Zealand's most respected dairy men.
In a normal year, lambs do not require a drench at docking/tailing.
A routine drench at this time may not be generating as much value as farmers might imagine.
Wormwise programme manager Ginny Dodunski says the scouring, reduced appetite and poor growth rates associated with worms are partly a result of an animal’s immune response to internal parasites.
She explains that young lambs have no immune response to worm larvae, so don’t suffer the same negative consequences associated with worm burdens.
Many of the worms that young lambs are ingesting cannot complete their lifecycle so cannot build up numbers until the lamb has a fully functioning rumen at around four to five weeks of age.
“So, if you’re drenching at docking you may not be kicking out as many worms as you think you are,” Dodunski adds.
Another reason for not drenching at docking is the presence of a worm called Strongyloides. This worm has a completely different lifecycle to other internal parasites in that lambs will pick these worms up through their skin or from the ewe’s udder. However, lambs do set up a rapid immune response to Strongyloides at four to five weeks of age.
While lambs may appear dirty, they will dry up of their own accord irrespective of whether or not they have been drenched.
Dodunski says the only time lambs may benefit from a drench at tailing is where ewes are in poor condition, are underfed and not milking – so lambs are forced to eat a lot more grass than would be typical and a drench maybe useful in this circumstance.
Fonterra says the US continues to be an important market for New Zealand dairy and the co-op.
Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand's trade interests are best served in a world where trade flows freely.
New Zealand's red meat sector says it is disappointed by the United States' decision to impose tariffs on New Zealand exports.
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Holstein Friesian NZ and Link Livestock have agreed on a strategic partnership to provide HFNZ members with comprehensive services from one of New Zealand's most respected dairy men.
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