Co-op champion eyes contest
West Otago farmer Allan Richardson will contest the South Island director for the Farmlands cooperative.
Sheep farmers should be investing in proven, worm resistant genetics this breeding season to future proof their businesses’ bottom lines.
That’s the claim of new WormFEC Gold chair Allan Richardson. WormFEC is a group of 15 breeders – with 18 flocks – representing all the main sheep breeds and based throughout NZ.
“The majority of farmers still continue to put all their trust in a drenching strategy to combat internal parasites,” the West Otago sheep farmer says. “Clearly that is failing at alarming rates with increasing resistance found in combination drenches (43%) and triple drenches (15%) in the latest NZ study completed by a Dunedin company Techion”.
Richardson says the rate of drench resistance increase has been dramatic, with some drench families recording over a 100% increase in resistance compared to four years ago.
“The Beef + Lamb NZ Genetics low input trial has clearly shown that WormFEC Gold rams with high performance and resistance levels still performed under high worm challenges,” he claims. “This is a big saving in time, labour and expenses.”
“We are keen to work with farmers and vets to improve on farm knowledge and get the best medium to long term solutions for internal parasite management,” Richardson adds.
His take home message to farmers is to use this time wisely, get resistant genes into your flock.
“It will future-proof your farm, cut costs and reduce your long-term reliance on regular drenching,” Richardson says.
Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.
Shipping disruption caused by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea has so far not impacted fertiliser prices or supply on farm.
The opportunity to spend more time on farm while providing a dedicated service for shareholders attracted new environmental manager Ben Howden to work for Waimakariri Irrigation Limited (WIL).
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
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