Dear Clients,
It’s hard to believe that the year is well into the 3rd quarter and we’re already penning our spring newsletter. Things sure move fast in agriculture! Seasonal conditions, available feed, stock prices, and parasitic outbreaks can all turn up or down very quickly. So, it is understandable that it can be hard to keep a proactive mindset over a reactive one.
Large parts of Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales have recently experienced a tough few months (summer-now). With that in mind, it could be easy to assume that worms and fluke won’t be an issue for a while, and drop regular preventative (proactive) treatments. This could be a big mistake as a wettish spring (see map below) may follow on from these tough conditions. Stock in average condition have been grazing close to the ground, or pushing into lower (soaky) areas chasing a bit of green, over a long period of time. These are the red zones for bulk pick up of infective larvae. When conditions are right and the rain returns, this is the perfect storm for explosive worm burdens to catch you off guard later in the year.
Prevent this from happening by maintaining your worming program and vigilance rather than decreasing it. For example, don’t drop the August/September Liver Fluke drench through the cow mob (if you are in a flukey area), nor the ewe and lamb weaning drench. Consider a primer and long acting drench for your weaners if unable to wean onto clean paddocks. More on this over the page.
The BOM predicts that we are in for a ‘normal’ spring rainfall wise with most parts of pastoral Australia a better than even chance of exceeding average rainfall from August to October.
For the Queensland cattle tick, I’ve written about the importance of treating early with Vetmec LA or Tickmaster Plus on the next page. Worm control from these products is an extra benefit.
Talking tags, we have some good specials involving bonus taggers. Our tag supplier, Datamars, owns the Tru-Test range of products including weigh scale indicators, load bars, panel readers, etc. It is important for animal health diligence that livestock managers have accurate measurement and weighing tools at their disposal. We have placed a few of these on our website, so if anyone is interested contact us for a quote.
Kind regards,
Murray
Cattle News
Prepare for the QLD Tick Season
For the Queensland cattle tick, over the last couple of years, we’ve spoken about the importance of suppressing the first generation of ticks – after 2 seasons of good rainfall in the tick zone, this could not be more true.
Ticks that have survived in the environment over the winter will start to appear on cattle in mid to late spring. These are the ticks that, if left unchecked, produce 1000’s of eggs that hatch and infect your cattle throughout the summer, further multiplying along the way. Treat cattle when you first see these spring ticks appear (or even just before) with a long acting product, such as Vetmec LA (moxidectin 100mg/mL) or Vetmec Tickmaster Plus (Fluazuron 15g/L & Ivermectin 5g/L), to ‘knock off’ this generation of ticks, dramatically reducing the summer and autumn tick load on your cattle. Using a long-acting product reduces the need for treatment every month, however, if you are contending with withholding periods for sale cattle, normal Vetmec Injection (Abamectin 10mg/mL) will be the way to go.
Read more about controlling Cattle Tick (Rhipicephalus microplus) here.
Southern Liver Fluke Clean Out
If you haven’t already, don’t forget to give your cattle their end of winter treatment for liver fluke. For cooler states, especially Tasmania, September is the perfect time to do this. Use Vetmec F Injection to clean up liver fluke, which also covers all worms.
Same day dispatch and free express delivery!
We recently published an article on Liver Fluke, click here to read it online, or let us know if you’d like us to send you a copy. Or, if you’d like to have a chat, just give us a call on 1800 243 683.
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VETMEC F Broad Spectrum Antiparasitic Cattle Injection$165.00 + GST
Sheep News
Vetmec Strikemaster Spray on Blowfly Prevention
Protect against flystrike by Australian Blowfly, Lucilia cuprina, for up to 18-24 weeks using Vetmec Strikemaster Spray on Blowfly Treatment. It can be great when the weather helps us control sheep blowflies, however, at the end of the day, using a preventative treatment is the ultimate control strategy.
Use Strikemaster to prevent:
- Body strike
- Breech strike
- Poll strike
- Strike after lamb marking*
*When it comes to marking late winter and spring-born lambs can risk marking and mulesing wounds getting struck by blowflies. Applying 8mLs of Strikemaster can stop this from happening, thus aiding the healing process. For just 34c a head (mulsed) and 17c a head (tail docked), it’s a no brainer!
BIG STRIKEMASTER SALE
Vetmec Strikemaster 20L$850 NOW $840 + GST
Buy 4+ Drums: $820 + GST
Buy 10+ Drums: $800 + GST
Vetmec Strikemaster 5L$290 NOW $280 + GST
Product Expiry July 2028 – Plenty of time to use it!
*Sale until 31st October 2024*
Getting Ready for Weaning Lambs
While the lambs are hitting the ground, it’s a good time to think about preparing paddocks for your weaners. This is in terms of feed availability, but it’s just as important to wean into low worm risk pastures. These are paddocks that have:
- Not been grazed by sheep for about 6 months
- Been grazed by cattle in the previous rotation
- Got 15+ cm of pasture height
If you haven’t got a paddock that fits any of the descriptions above, a chemical prevention strategy can be a great insurance policy for weaner sheep. We recommend using Vetmec Moxiguard with a primer drench of Vetmec LV (with the Mineral Mix) and Vetmec Dual as your weaning drench. Doing so means that you can put that mob where the best feed is, without having to worry about them becoming overburdened by parasites. As it’s tough going for feed in spots, we want them using their energy for growth, not fighting parasites!
Spring Tag Specials
For the spring tagger promotion this year, get a free tagger (or two) with qualifying orders until 31st October 2024.
Cattle
Free Z2 No Tear Tagger with orders of:
- 200 x Z Tag NLIS Cattle Tags
- 150 x Z Tag NLIS Cattle Tags + Matching Management Tags
- 500 x 2 Piece Management Tags
2 x Free Z2 No Tear Taggers with orders of:
- 500 x Z Tag NLIS Cattle Tags
Free Z1 No Snag Tagger with orders of:
- 500 x 1 Piece Management or Feedlot Tags
Sheep
Free TagFaster Applicator with orders of:
- 500 x electronic TagFaster Sheep Tags
- 2000 x printed TagFaster Sheep Tags (not electronic)
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TagFaster Multi-Shot Sheep Tags$0.34 – $1.93 + GST -
TagFaster Applicator$122.00 + GST
Free FET Tagger with orders of:
- 200 x electronic FET Sheep Tags
- 1000 x printed FET Sheep Tags (not electronic)
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FET NLIS Sheep Tags$0.34 – $1.88 + GST -
FET Tag Applicator$35.00 + GST
Tru-Test Stick Reader Winners
Congratulations to the winners of our two stick reader giveaways this year! Each won a Tru-Test XRS2i Stick Reader, valued at almost $2500!
Field Day Photos
Well done to Antoinette at her first field day with Chemvet for Sheepvention! One last stop for the year on the field day train, we’re heading to Henty Machinery Field Days for the very first time! Our site is in the north east corner – site number 1052. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Thanks for reading our spring newsletter. If you have any questions about drenching sheep or cattle, get in touch via email (admin@chemvet.com.au), phone (1800 243 683) or the Contact Us page.