Research project Sustainable worm control in ruminants

General introduction

The overall goal of the international SPARC project is to establish an active multi-actor network across the EU and UK in order to increase the performance and the resilience of ruminant livestock farms. Concretely, the researchers aim to widely disseminate best practices, tools and solutions on sustainable worm control that improve (1) animal health and welfare on the farms; (2) economic performance, and (3) the environmental sustainability of the sector.

Research approach

A multi-actor network is created in the EU and UK with three types of actors: Grazing ruminant farmers (people who engage in the breeding, keeping and working with grazing ruminants); Veterinarians (people who practice veterinary medicine) and Farm advisors (people who engage in professional activity aiding farmers in developing their management activities and improving production). These actors are united with the partner and associated organisations to form the thematic network. Partner and associated organisations are drawn from multiple sectors, including governmental agencies, advisory bodies; universities and research institutes; technical and pharmaceutical enterprises; and farmers’ organisations.

Relevance/Valorization

We expect the adoption of greener production methods with less use of anthelmintics and more use of agroecological approaches, with the support of new digital technologies (platforms, apps, algorithms) as key facilitators of sustainableworm control. Strong and self-sustaining communities are emerging to promote sustainable worm control even beyond the scope of the thematic network. We call a halt to the escalating anthelminthic resistance and its detrimental effects on health, welfare, productivity and farm income. Livestock farms gain resilience.

Financing

EU Horizon Europe