Gastrointestinal worms are common in all grazing livestock species. Animals are usually treated with synthetic anthelmintics to control worm infection. Anthelmintics represent a contentious input in organic farming because anthelmintic resistance spreads rapidly and synthetic residues in faeces threaten biodiversity.
Solution
Grazing animals are given spores of the naturally occurring biocontrol fungus Duddingtonia flagrans. Spores germinate in the faeces and the fungus consumes worm larvae before they contaminate pasture and re-infect animals.
Description
Duddingtonia can reduce the emergence of infective worm larvae from ruminant and horse faeces by over 95% under optimal conditions. Trials have shown that worm burdens in lambs grazing after Duddingtonia treated sheep are re-duced by 57-75% compared to lambs grazing after un-treated sheep.
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