DR CLIVE Dalton spent much of his career researching hill country farming and teaching agricultural students. He is also a former King Country News columnist. PHOTO SUPPLIED
TWENTY years ago, it was apparent to sheep and cattle farming expert Dr Clive Dalton that resistance to drenches was a major emerging problem.
But Clive, who did research on hill country while he was farming at Ruakura, said for the most part his warnings fell on deaf ears.
Though retired, the former agricultural tutor at Waikato Polytechnic closely follows developments in agriculture, being dismayed at recent reports of big increases in triple drench resistance.
He authored two books which advocated breeding more parasite resistance in sheep: Internal Parasites of Sheep and their Control – now and in the Future and Breeding Sheep to Eliminate Dags and Worms.
“But it didn’t work, because it was always easier to drench,” Clive said.
“They used to say hoggets always got drenched on a Monday because the dogs had been tied up all weekend and the shepherds were ready. It was a simple process and, of course, supported by massive promotions.
“That’s where the vets are in trouble, and Wormwise has an impossible problem.
“A vet could never say stop drenching and a vet never got commission from selling rams. So breeding was always the last option brought up at Wormwise seminars, and people would just say, ‘look we haven’t got time for that’.
“A few stud breeders have kept on going but they have had no impact because people have not been queueing up to buy worm resistant rams.”
Clive said another major setback to controlling worms was that there were no farm advisers anymore, as they disappeared when the former Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries went commercial.
“When we started promoting facial eczema resistance through breeding, every MAF town office had a sheep and beef officer, and those boys were really practical. But when MAF went commercial they disappeared.
“So poor old Wormwise never had any farm advisers to go out onto the farm and saying, ‘look I can show you how you get most benefit from buying a ram from Melvin Forlong or Gordon Levitt’.”
Though he has not given up all hope, Clive estimates that due to drench resistance and other problems the odds are now stacked against viable hill country farming.
“What the hill country is headed for now is trees and bees and that’s going to be it. That’s unless there is a serious move by Wormwise into breeding.
“But the poor beggars, all they can do is encourage farmers to do worm counts. They can show that there is a problem but the answer is always drench. Wormwise is not giving enough direction; breeding is the solution but it takes a bloody long time.
“Twenty years ago, I wrote that we needed to tell a farmer start and form a little nucleus flock and keep testing them . . . that the poor bloke also needed help from an adviser, and he needed time (for the breeding to work).
“But it was easier just to call in at the stock agents and buy an even bigger drum of drench, because you’d get a fishing rod or a ham at Christmas.”
During his career lecturing agriculture students, Clive was struck by the pulling power of promotions carried out by companies selling agricultural pharmaceuticals. When he led his students to inspect the chemicals available at the vets’, he said they were far more interested in the jackets and the giveaways.
“How can you promote breeding when the whole pharmaceutical industry is wanting you to use more drench. People like Melvin and Gordon and me have all been shot down for promoting breeding and yes, I agree that today – even with a will to change things – it would be a steep mountain to climb.
“It would require a 20-year programme to breed worm-resistant sheep. But it’s starting 20 years too late. It would require some serious advisory input and support, and I don’t know where they are going to get that from.”
Clive said meanwhile, the Government was set on throwing money at regenerative agriculture.
“But that’s really bullshit. They really need to get some serious money into solving the internal parasite problem (to save hill country farming).
Clive said it was clear that chemicals used to control worms were no longer working as they should.
“The more chemicals you give sheep, the more you will kill the susceptible worms, but you don’t kill the resistant ones. So, the resistant ones are left to mate with other resistant worms and the whole thing gets out of control.
“You won’t solve this problem with chemicals unless research can come up with more chemicals and that is not happening. My understanding is that it will be about 10 years before any new chemicals come on stream.”
Clive said the bind the agricultural industry now found itself in had an uncanny parallel to the resistance to existing antibiotics in human medicine. In both cases the clock was ticking, there was an urgency to find a solution but an apparent helplessness to do so.
“And what pisses me off is that I saw it all coming, 20 years ago.”
