Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Animals: goats, sheep
Practices
- Animal Production: parasite control, animal protection and health, grazing management, grazing - multispecies, preventive practices, grazing - rotational
- Education and Training: demonstration, extension, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research, participatory research, workshop
- Farm Business Management: budgets/cost and returns
- Sustainable Communities: sustainability measures
Proposal abstract:
Performance targets from proposal:
Milestone 1. 1100 (30%) producers in the four-state region (CT, MA, RI and VT) will complete a comprehensive survey on their current methods, problems and costs associated with parasite control. Key project personnel and the producer advisory council will use information from these surveys to further refine project and workshop topics. This will occur on an ongoing basis over the project period as producers are contacted.
Milestone 2. Research conducted at the University of Rhode Island will determine whether the currently recommended vitamin E supplementation has a detrimental effect on parasite resistance in sheep. Results will be presented to a wide audience (producers, extension agents, researchers) at regional and national meetings, published on extension sheets, summarized in agricultural publications and in scientific journals. (Years 1-2).
Milestone 3. Research conducted at the University of Rhode Island and Virginia Tech will determine whether the bioactive component of cranberry leaves has efficacy as a natural anthelmintic in sheep. Results will be presented to a wide audience (producers, extension agents, researchers) at regional and national meetings, published on extension sheets, summarized in agricultural publications and in scientific journals. (Years 1-3).
Milestone 4. 900 (24%) producers will attend a workshop providing comprehensive education on parasite control. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to be trained in the use of the FAMACHA system, gain experience performing fecal egg counts and will be able to sign up for on-farm visits. Two workshops per project year will be offered in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont, one workshop per project year will be offered in Rhode Island beginning in April 2010.
Milestone 5. 365 (10%) producers will participate in two on-farm visits 10 to 14 days apart. Producers will gain hands-on experience in FAMACHA card scoring, body condition scoring and rectal fecal sampling. Analysis of samples obtained from these visits will provide farmers with information on the level of flock susceptibility to parasites, parasite identification and the degree of anthelmintic resistance on each farm to the de-wormer being used. Farm visits will occur during the summer of each project year.
Milestone 6. 290 (8%) producers will reduce anthelmintic use by using the FAMACHA© system, BCS and FEC to selectively deworm those animals infected with parasites. (Yrs 2-3).
Performance Target. Three hundred and sixty producers of sheep and/or goats will reduce their cost of anthelmintic use by 50% ($2/animal) on 4,240 animals (Year 1 - $2,853, Year 2 - $5,706, Year 3 - $8,560 , Total - $17,119) by implementing some or all of the following practices: use of the FAMACHA system, body condition scoring, fecal egg counts for selective deworming, mixed species grazing and pasture rotation. Project duration: 3 years.