Organic Centre Wales Technical Note 1: Controlling ectoparasites on Welsh organic sheep farms

Summary

At present there is little information on current practices for ectoparasite control in Welsh organic sheep flocks. In order to rectify this lack of information a survey was carried out to investigate current practices for ectoparasite control on Welsh organic sheep farms. The results of this survey are reported in this technical note. The key findings were;
• Percentage of farmers treating their flocks for ectoparasite infestations are similar for organic and non-organic sheep farmers
• Although scab was listed as a major ectoparasite for both organic and nonorganic flocks only 3% of organic flocks were treated specifically for scab and only 11% of non-organic flocks
• There is confusion as to what is the most appropriate treatment for specific ectoparasites
• Only 16% of organic sheep farmers use SP-based dip products
• There is little evidence to suggest that organic farmers contribute disproportionately to the level of SP-based pollution incidences