Australia to help beef cattle farmers improve parasite control

Australia's Department of Agriculture and Food is undertaking a project to look at how to help beef cattle producers improve parasite control.

Department veterinary officer Jenny Cotter said there were increasing reports of drench resistance in cattle worldwide, particularly in Europe and New Zealand, which could lead to parasite control problems.

There are only a small number of drench resistance reports in the Eastern States, but no investigations in Western Australia have been launched, Cotter said.

However, it is important to update knowledge of farmer practices and parasite distribution to ensure there are no issues in the future, Cotter said.

The project is designed to gather information on how beef farmers manage parasites, and whether drench resistance is a problem. The project aims to sample over 7,000 cattle both younger and older than 15 months old across the agricultural region.

The project will also collect dung samples at saleyards and slaughterhouses to provide information on any changes to the distribution of parasites for the past 20 years.

The project will run for two years.