Sheep farmers from across Northern Ireland have visited Islay to learn about use of blood testing and fluke egg detection to target fluke treatments and reduce resistance on Scottish sheep farms.

The group, accompanied by CAFRE Beef and Sheep Advisers Hannah Doherty and John Moore, made the scenic trip for a Farm Innovation Visit – an initiative that provides NI farmers with opportunities to visit farm businesses in other parts of the UK or Europe to learn about new innovations.

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Fluke treatments are a routine husbandry practise across all NI sheep farms, with some areas of the country showing more significant challenges due to landscape and weather. The ongoing issue of triclabendazole resistance on farms threatens the success of treatments in the future and there is an ongoing need for improved knowledge of the fluke cycle and key times of treatment with specific active ingredients.

The group specifically visited Islay as it was subject to a fluke trial in 2021. Elanco were responsible for carrying out the study while local vet Samara Johnstone carried out the on-farm trial specimen collections and analysis. The FIV group had Matthew Colston from Elanco and Ms Johnstone to lead their trip over the two days and outline the trial work and ongoing progress.