Discussion

Anthelmintic resistance is now taking a serious hold on livestock farms, especially in grazing ruminants. This parlous situation has accelerated research into alternative control tools, including vaccines, selective breeding, bioactive plants (as mixed species swards and feed supplements), biological control (mainly nematophagous fungi), and more. While results are promising in some cases, performance is variable and unlikely to provide like-for-like replacements for anthelmintics, rather requiring strategic and complementary use. The bewildering array of options poses a challenge for advisors, and for researchers who are developing new control tools and seeking to contextualise their likely impact; all the more so given changing epidemiological patterns under climate warming. This presentation explores how novel control tools, and interactions between them, could affect the future of helminth management on farms, and how increasingly accessible computer models might help researchers, farm advisors and farmers to navigate the complex new world of worm control.