Work

Trialling the SmartWorm® application in New Zealand sheep farms

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) remain a major health and productivity challenge for grazing livestock globally, including New Zealand where widespread anthelmintic resistance has been reported. This was a pilot study evaluating the effectiveness of SmartWorm®, an app-based decision-support tool for Targeted Selective Treatment (TST) of internal parasites to reduce drench use without compromising lamb growth under New Zealand conditions. A total of 1,738 ewe lambs across three commercial farms were allocated to either a TST or Blanket Treatment (BT) group (treated every 28 days) and monitored over a 90-day period. All animals were drenched at the start of the trial, after which BT animals received treatment at each subsequent weighing. 'SmartWorm was used to determine drenching need for TST animals based on individual animal performance relative to expectation. Faecal egg counts (FEC), weight gain, and treatment frequency were assessed. Across all farms, TST reduced anthelmintic use by 37–57% compared with BT, with no significant differences in liveweight gain (P = 0.510). There was a weak but significant treatment effect on FEC (P = 0.01), and a linear relationship (R 2 = 0.8951, P<0.001 with one outlier removed) between BT group FEC and TST rate, indicating the system’s responsiveness to parasite challenge. This study demonstrates that implementing TST using this app can enable reduced anthelmintic use without compromising performance—an important step towards sustainable parasite management on New Zealand sheep farms. • Smartworm® reduced anthelmintic use by 37-57% without compromising liveweight gain. • The algorithm demonstrated high predictive accuracy for drenching need. • SmartWorm® proved to be a practical tool for Targeted Selective Treatment.

Source: International Journal for Parasitology Drugs and Drug Resistance

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpddr.2025.100616

Authors: C.L. Brosnahan, D. Warburton, N. Cotter, J.C. Tanner, A.W. Greer

Institutions: Beef + Lamb New Zealand, Lincoln University

Language: English

Topic: Helminth infection and control

Subfield: Small Animals

Field: Veterinary

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Zero hunger, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,700