Reseeding land is not the solution to a heavily infected worm pasture, farmers were told at a sheep walk recently.
At the walk, there was a great deal of interest around the topic of worms and the best way of handling worm issues on farms, particularly as anthelmintic resistance becomes a greater issue.
Responding to a question about whether or not reseeding is the answer to eradicating worm issues on infected pastures, Teagasc’s Damian Costello said: “The answer is no, really. You won’t have a completely clean pasture by reseeding it.
“People often ask that question, that if they turn the ground over and bury any infections present on the pasture, in reality the answer is that this isn’t going to work.
“For a start, you’ll have the surrounding boundaries of the field where there will be certain levels on infections there where [sheep] will be grazing as well.
“It would, however, be cleaner pasture alright by turning over the soil. But realistically, at a minimum, you would need two years without sheep grazing on pasture to limit the infection,” Costello said.
“And close to four years to have pasture that’s completely clean of any infection.
“The other important point is that your pasture will be relatively low with infection if the sheep aren’t grazing it over the winter anyway, which means it’s relatively clean early in the grazing season.
“The problem is that if ewes are being dosed in the shed during the winter, they will be shedding resistant worms out on pasture when they are grazing which only worsens the situation,” Costello added.