Dear Clients,
As we near the end of 2023, I find it nice to reflect on the year that has been. It has been an interesting year for livestock farmers across Australia, but that hasn’t held you all back from producing the highest possible quality beef, dairy, lamb and wool. For that, I am grateful Chemvet gets to play even the smallest role in helping you do so.
A couple of things we have celebrated this year include the launch of new product VETMEC LA; finishing one of Chemvet’s most successful years in its 30 year history by welcoming over 700 new Chemvet customers! The staff and I thoroughly enjoy hearing about your farming stories, and the photo competition was a great hit –some photos are featured throughout this newsletter.
Looking forward to what the start of 2024 might bring, stock prices are showing some signs of stabilizing or even the ‘green shoots’ of a slight recovery. Things are looking to remain dry with the December to February rainfall likely (60 to 80% chance) to be below median for much of western, southern and north-eastern Australia and only a 50% chance of normal rainfall across northern Victoria, central NSW and southern QLD.
While this is not so desirable in terms of pasture availability, we can try and look on the bright side in terms of parasite control. After the last couple of wet, mild summers, a forecasted hot and dry season will give us a good natural parasite cull. This is an ideal opportunity for a strategic (proactive) drench, instead of a therapeutic (reactive) drench.
We are always working hard, and make it our mission, to ensure that we can supply very competitively priced Vetmec products to our clients throughout the livestock sector, and are very proud of our record in this regard.
Thank you all for supporting Chemvet throughout the year and our very best wishes to everyone for a happy and safe festive season.
Murray and the Chemvet team
Cattle News
Drenching Weaners: A Vetmec Injection + LEV Case Study
We recently did some efficacy testing on some weaner heifers and steers based in Gippsland. This very loyal Chemvet customer has been using Vetmec Antiparasitic Cattle Injection since 2008. We received some high worm test results for the weaner steers and heifers, and approximately 25% of the mob was scouring. On Murray’s recommendation, these two mobs of weaners were drenched with Vetmec Injection as well as LEV Pour-On.
A second round of worm testing was conducted 11 days after the weaners were drenched. The faecal egg counts of all three mob samples came back at zero (0) eggs per gram of faeces. This showed that the drench was 100% effective and was able to prove the issues with the young cattle was not resistance, but drench frequency.
For this type of property, Murray’s overall drench program recommendation for weaners includes a drench at weaning (e.g., March), again 6 weeks later (mid-May), and again in July. This programs keeps the cattle clean and prevents larval contamination of pastures. If the second weaning drench (mid-May) were to be skipped, and left until July drenching, the damage is already done and we’re a step behind getting good control over the worm burden until the end of spring.
An alternative to the 3x weaner drench strategy in cool climates is to use Vetmec LA Long-Acting Injection instead. Vetmec LA will protect against Small Brown Stomach Worm (Ostertagia spp.) for 4 months, saving time and energy, and giving peace of mind that the cattle have no parasites holding them back from their growth potentials during the harsher months.
Key messages:
- Weaner cattle are the most susceptible to worm burdens.
- With good drench and parasite management, the ‘old’ Vetmec Injection (on its own or combined with LEV Pour-On) will serve you well for years to come.
- Insightful interpretation of one or two worm tests can be extremely beneficial.
Breeze through the rest of this Cattle Tick season, and get prepared for 2024, by taking advantage of the Vetmec LA launch specials – ending on the 31st January 2024!
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Vetmec LA Long-Acting Cattle Injection$690.00 + GST
VETMEC INJECTION SUMMER SPECIAL
Normally $135, NOW $125
Buy 5+ Packs: $120 + FREE Needles
Buy 10+ Packs: $115 + FREE Injector & Needles
Prices are exclusive of GST
*Special ends 31st January 2024*
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Vetmec Antiparasitic Cattle Injection$135.00 + GST
Vetmec Pour-On & Vetmec Tickmaster
Did you know that you can apply both products (Vetmec Pour-On and Vetmec Tickmaster) at the same time and achieve full knockdown and 12 weeks protection against northern Cattle Tick? This applies the same actives as Tickmaster Plus Ivermectin, but with a more attractive price tag!
5L Pack – $520 + GST
50% OFF // SAVE $495
Treats 166 head at 500kg
Includes:
1 x 5L Tickmaster Pour-On
2 x 2.5L Vetmec Pour-On
1 x Bonus Pour-On Applicator
Order 5L of Tickmaster Plus Ivermectin online or Call 1800 243 683 to order!
15L Pack – $1480 + GST
36% OFF // SAVE $850
Treats 400 head at 500kg
Includes:
1 x 15L Tickmaster Pour-On
1 x 10L Vetmec Pour-On
1 x 2.5L Vetmec Pour-On
2 x Bonus Pour-On Applicators!
Order 15L of Tickmaster Plus Ivermectin online or Call 1800 243 683 to order!
Sheep News
Summer Worm Update
Like Murray mentioned on the front page, the next few months are looking to be a little bit drier than usual.
You may have seen this larvae survival chart before (see right). It shows how many infective larvae will survive on pasture after so many days at a certain temperature (average daily maximum). Depending on how hot your summer temperatures get, you’ll get a natural cull of up to 95% of pasture larvae over 60 days.
While the weather is doing its part to kill of worms in the environment, doing a strategic summer drench can increase this environmental clean-up even further by killing off any worms that are hiding in your sheep (or cattle). This will ‘reset’ your worm population, ready for another year of happy, productive stock!
If you would like to workshop any parasite management strategies, whether it’s chemical or non-chemical, please feel free to get in touch. Tash, Murray and Josh are always keen to have a yarn!
Vetmec Mineral Mix
Sheep grazing close to the ground will pick up some trace elements and minerals, provided the soil isn’t deficient, from the soil they ingest. However, if they are relying mostly on supplementary feed (hay, silage, grain, etc.) then they may not be getting a complete profile of minerals. This is where Vetmec Mineral Mix (copper, cobalt, iodine and zinc) can help! Ask for it to be mixed into your next order of drench for only 2c per 50kg sheep!
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Vetmec Mineral Mix$50.00 + GST
Allwormer for Dogs!
Don’t forget the puppies this Christmas, order your Vetmec Allwormers!
Just $30 + GST for a bottle of 10 tablets!
Add some in your next drench order to save on postage!
Pro tip: if your dogs are fed game meat, or you live in a hydatid area, it is recommended to worm them every 6 weeks instead of every 3 months.
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Vetmec Allwormer for Dogs 10 Tablets$30.00 + GST
Autumn Lambing Preparation
For Autumn lambing ewes, there are a couple of things to think about coming into the new year:
- Preparing lambing paddocks:
Planning out lambing paddocks early and putting effort into making them low worm risk pastures will significantly help control worms in ewes (and lambs). This can be done by grazing with cattle beforehand, grazing with other sheep that have been injected with a Moxiguard, or this year it may be done just by locking the paddock up (see notes above). - Selecting a pre-lambing drench:
The pre-lambing health regime is the most important set of treatments ewes get. As such, it’s important to use the right products to keep our hardest working sheep (lactating ewes) fighting fit. All ewes should get their annual clostridial vaccination (e.g., 5-in-1, 6-in-1, etc.) as well as Vetmec LV + minerals, and Vetmec Dual.
Vetmec Moxiguard is also a particularly useful addition in any of these scenarios:
- The ewes are going to be lambing on paddocks that have had sheepgrazing on them within 1 month of lambing.
- You are in an area where Barber’s Pole is present, and active, duringspring and/or autumn months.
- You usually have to drench (ewes and/or lambs) at lamb marking.
Note about tag orders over Christmas – be prepared for tagging in the new year!
If you will need tags in January/February next year, we suggest getting your orders in before Christmas to make sure you aren’t waiting on them. Datamars’ capacity for urgent tag orders (turnaround time less than 3 weeks) is pretty much filled. So please be prepared! Order now!
BEEF 2024
We’re very excited to have secured a spot at Beef Australia, a first class showcase of our industry.
BEEF is held in Rockhampton on the 5th – 11th May 2024. We’ll do a larger feature in our Autumn newsletter, however, given the popularity of the event, we wanted to give our customers plenty of notice to get their tickets just in case they sell out!
Tickets are available at: https://tickets.beefaustralia.com.au/events/
Some more 2024 Field Day/Show Dates
We have some shows and field days coming up early next year, so have a look at the list below and keep an eye out for friendly Chemvet faces! We will give a better list in the next newsletter once all trade site applications are confirmed.
- January 11th: Circular Head Show Carcase Presentation Evening, Smithton, TAS
- February 9th – 11th: Glen Innes Show, NSW
- March 15th – 16th: South East Field Days, Lucindale SA.
- April 5th & 6th: East Gippsland Field Days, Bairnsdale VIC
Thank you to our amazing Chemvet customers
Thank you to all of our Chemvet customers for supporting us through another year! If you’ve placed an order with Chemvet this year, you will find a fridge notepad enclosed with your newsletter as an extra little thank you!
Coming into 2024, if you need a new pocket notebook, let us know and we’ll throw one in your next order!
Last Australia Post lodgment dates for estimated delivery before Christmas
VIC – 20th December
NSW/QLD/SA/TAS – 18th December (20th for injectable drenches)
WA/NT – 15th December (20th for injectable drenches)
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE CHEMVET TEAM
Photo: Leigh Hart