July-Worm-Intensity-Heat-Map
Figure 1. July Worm Intensity Heat Map. Green is <200 epg, yellow is 200 - 400 epg, orange is 400-600 epg, pink is 600 – 800 epg and dark red is above 800 epg.

Now into mid-winter, worm egg counts have dropped across the region. While a couple of very high counts were observed, most egg counts submitted were below 500 epg, with the median count below 250 epg.  On the surface, it looks like most farmers have been aware of the risks associated with the season and have been keeping sheep below treatment thresholds for this region.  With more widespread rainfall across the region in July, while it has been too cold for barber’s pole worm development, scour worms are a risk and can have significant impact of liveweight gain and wool growth at this time of year.

Worm egg counts have declined for the 4th month in a row, but a dominance of scour worms in the region means that worms must be monitored in lambing ewes and their lambs. Thresholds for treatment in this region during winter range from 150 epg for young sheep, rams and pre-lambing ewes, to 250 for other ewes and wethers. Good rainfall in the region continues to keep scour worms active.
 

The eastern side of this region has seen nearly a doubling of the average worm egg count from the previous month and is now shown in yellow. This increase in counts has been supported by rainfall and more young sheep being tested. On the western side, egg counts remain low at similar levels to last month.

The average WEC in western Victoria remains low but has more than doubled to 150 epg. A bit of rain, combined with lambing ewes, should see this number rise. Monitoring ewes at marking time is an important process for worm management.

Not enough samples have been submitted from other regions in Victoria to provide commentary.

Worm challenge in the south-east of the state has tripled from its low last month but still remains categorised as low, shown in green.  10% of counts are above 250 epg, which is marginally more than reported last month.

In Western Australia, the southern region’s worm challenge remains the same as last month, shown as yellow. Rainfall through the winter months in this region will add to the worm challenge. A significant jump in sampling in the central agriculture region has shown that worm challenge is lower in this region compared to the southern region.

July-Rainfall-map