Get up to scratch with ParaBoss certified advisors and providers

To ensure they receive the best guidance about sheep parasite management, woolgrowers are being encouraged to seek out and use advisors certified by ParaBoss. Woolgrowers are also urged to use ParaBoss certified worm egg count (WEC) providers to ensure they receive accurate WEC results.

ParaBoss certified sheep advisors

ParaBoss certified sheep advisors have completed the ParaBoss Certificate in Sheep Parasite Management and therefore have the skills and knowledge to apply, and provide advice to others about, effective integrated parasite management of sheep.

Sheep parasites cost sheep and wool producers through production losses and the direct costs of treatment and control.

“Understanding how to reduce the impact of sheep parasites is critical to lowering the cost to producers, and the ParaBoss Certificate in Sheep Parasite Management gives advisors and producers the platform to gain this knowledge,” said Executive Officer of ParaBoss Advisor Training, Deb Maxwell.

The ParaBoss Certificate covers the core information from WormBoss, FlyBoss and LiceBoss. Since the course began less than one year ago, more than 200 advisors have completed it.

Many of the graduates are livestock veterinarians and frontline advisors from industry leading rural merchandise companies such as Elders and Nutrien, and pharmaceutical companies Elanco and Boehringer-Ingelheim, which enrolled all of its technical and field staff through the ParaBoss Certificate.

The advisors all found their knowledge and expertise have significantly improved – and they are now confidently providing expert advice about effective integrated parasite management of sheep to producers across the country.

“I now have the confidence to work with my clients to tailor a program for their situation in every season and make changes as things change,” said Ian Sellers of Nutrien Ag Solutions, who provides frontline advice to producers.

Adam Turnbull, Senior Livestock Production Advisor with Elders, said: “The course provides a good baseline of knowledge for producers and advisors alike, covering multiple scenario situations across many states to provide knowledge over a wide area.”

“The course was relevant and loaded with useful information. I not only enjoyed the content, but really got into each section. Because my region (NSW central west and north-western) covers several ParaBoss regions, it was great to be able to complete the regionally specific work.”

-- Andrew Brewer, Elanco

ParaBoss certified WEC QA service providers

These providers have demonstrated the accuracy and precision of their WEC services through the ParaBoss WEC QA program, so producers can be certain their worm control decisions are based on accurate results.

The wet weather is set to continue throughout the 2022/23 summer, creating a perfect environment for increased survival and multiplication of worms in sheep with high levels of vegetation cover on paddocks, high levels of moisture in the soil and high humidity at ground level. This makes it all the more important for sheep producers to be vigilant with monitoring, and increase the frequency of worm egg counts in their flock.

Inaccurate worm egg counts can result in producers missing the optimum drench time: too late and there will be lost productivity and animal welfare impacts; too early and drenching costs are not justified.

Producers need to know they are getting accurate counts, and by choosing a ParaBoss certified WEC QA service provider, they can be certain their results will be accurate.

The 2022 WEC QA round has just been completed, with the result that 60% of participating businesses immediately met the criteria for ParaBoss certification. A further 30% had some issues that, if addressed, will allow them to be certified. Unfortunately, 10% of participating businesses had major issues making them ineligible for certification in this round.

The ParaBoss WEC QA program continues to demonstrate its value by identifying businesses that can demonstrate proficiency, and with the current challenging worm control conditions, accurate WEC results are more important than ever.

"This is a great opportunity to ensure our lab staff are up to scratch and do an annual check of our procedures."

-- Sara Bowers, GYST Parasitology Services

More information: Contact details for ParaBoss certified advisors and the 2022 ParaBoss certified WEC providers are available under the ‘Find an advisor’ tab on the ParaBoss website www.paraboss.com.au

This article appeared in the December 2022 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.