Farming Online is working with Liverpool University to develop a better liver fluke forecasting service to provide more accurate data.
Once complete, the liver fluke model is a service where a user can feed in their location and feed out a liver-fluke forecast for their farm.
The aim is to help to decrease the chances of infection which costs the industry about £300m per annum due to livestock performance and costs of treatment.
More specifically, it has been calculated that the livestock disease causes £15.3m of damage based on a 27-day delay in finishing time, a 10kg reduction in carcass weight and a carcass conformation score that is half of what is would be in a healthy animal.
Part of the liver fluke project involves consulting professionals and producers in the farming industry to use their knowledge to help update the existing Ollerenshaw risk model that Farming Online is developing with Liverpool University.
Farming Online said:
We are delighted with the response so far and are now looking for additional producers and companies who would be willing to trial the model and provide feedback.
Many farmers have said they are keen to be involved because fluke is one of their biggest problems and would like to be able to understand it better.
Dairies, abattoirs and retailers say they need to know what the expected disruption to the supply chain will be due to fasciolosis and treatments, allowing them to plan accordingly.
Any farmers or businesses who are interested in getting involved in the project is asked to email the team at liver-fluketrial@farming.co.uk.
Even for those who do not wish to be directly involved, observations are sought about experiences with fluke and these can also be shared via the email address above.
For more details, contact Vanessa Vann on 08709 090 902.
