Perry Parkinson - Strategies to reduce anthelmintic resistance

Perry was announced as a winner of the NSA Samuel Wharry Memorial Award for the Next Generation in late 2022, to plan travels and write a report in 2023 and 2024. The topic he has in mind while travelling to New Zealand is to see what can be learnt from our Kiwi cousins about tackling anthelmintic resistance.

Perry says: “The aim of my study is to visit multiple farmers and corporations within New Zealand to get a better and more accurate understanding of the level of anthelmintic resistance present. I will then compare this with the UK, looking at control methods used to help reduce and/or manage the risk." 

Visiting stud farms and doing work experience with veterinary practices, sheep milking farms and FEC companies were all on Perry's hit list when he went on his travels.

"By visiting these businesses I was able to collect a range of knowledge and gather insight into current practices, such as simple grazing management strategies, genetics and/or parentage selection for resistance, dag scoring, dosing strategies and the role of faecal egg counts - all with the intention of collating what I learnt and comparing it with the UK," he adds.

Investigating breeding strategies, testing regimes, treatment choices and alternatives to anthelmintics has given Perry a greater understanding of the level of resistance and farmer practices across countries and he looks forward to sharing his final report before the end of summer 2024.