Sheep conference gains good feedback

And despite having to completely reorganise the major international event following the Christchurch earthquake, congress organisation committee chairman John Smart says they got more than expected. They estimated 300-450 would attend, but final numbers were 475 including about 250 overseas visitors. The congress is held every fourth year.

He attributes some of that to a marketing push in South America which had always had low attendance to the congress despite there being “an awful lot of sheep in some South American countries”.

“This time 10 vets came from Brazil – the eighth biggest overseas group by country – and there were delegates from Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile.”

All the feedback from the February 19-22 congress was “totally positive”, everyone saying it was one of the best organised congresses they had been to, says Smart. One sponsor, the Swiss company Novartis, emailed saying they found the conference brilliant from a sponsor point of view.  

With a packed timetable over four days, Smart says they had almost 200 papers. “We had four plenary speakers.  Each of the four days started with a plenary where they spoke to the whole congress – then it was split into three parallel streams apart from the last day Friday when there were four parallel streams.”  That fourth stream was working dogs.

More than 300 papers were submitted by the scientific community to be considered for a session – some that didn’t make it were presented as poster displays.

From the scientific perspective, Smart says there was a major internal parasite section on Wednesday with AgResearch parasitologist David Leathwick as the plenary speaker on the topic ‘Sustainable Control of nematode parasite’. “He was excellent. Most of the world – certainly UK and Europe – need to catch up with New Zealand on this – their authorities over there do not even allow the registration of combination amthelmintics (drugs that expel parasite worms),” says Smart.

“I was quite determined the conference attendees should be exposed to Leathwick who presented the latest New Zealand research showing combinations provided by far the best results in counteracting resistance.” Leathwick received the award for best plenary paper.

Also of interest from the science viewpoint were several speakers on the new viral disease that’s emerged in Europe and UK in the last year called Schmallenberg virus. Smart says although it is highly unlikely it will come to New Zealand, it was interesting to hear from vets who have first-hand experience. “It keeps you slightly better informed, the odd farmer has asked me about it,” he says.

Originally the congress was scheduled for the convention centre in Christchurch. But with uncertainty over the building’s future – it has now been demolished – Smart had to make an early call to shift it to Rotorua and reorganise.

Part of the experience planned were pre-congress tours, one for the South Island and another for the North Island. With 40 delegates on each, the North Island conference was shortened to four days  to end in Rotorua. Smart and his wife lead the 12-day South Island tour which started and ended in Christchurch.

The congress was held once before in New Zealand, in 1989. The next one will be held in four years in Harrogate, Yorkshire.

More from the conference pages 38-39