Alternating grazing to control parasites in young cattle (Video)

Summary

Within the CORE Organic project MIX-ENABLE, Steffen Werne (FiBL) and his team are testing more sustainable ways of controlling gastrointestinal nematodes in ruminants. Farmers usually control parasites by using dewormers. However, resistance against these products is increasing. One approach is mixed grazing of different livestock species.
It is well known that sheep and goats can benefit from mixed grazing with cattle in terms of animal health and performance. This is because gastrointestinal parasites are usually specialized in one livestock species, and mixed grazing has thus a “diluting” effect.
Conversely, little is known whether young cattle can also benefit from mixed grazing with sheep.
This is what Steffen Werne and his teams want to find out in a field trial, which has just started and will continue for 14 weeks.