Sheep study ‘beginning to deliver benefits’

A project working to support farmers in dealing with the potentially devastating effects of sheep scab is now helping to deliver major policy change.

The Westcountry Rivers Trust, which earlier this year led a partnership project on Dartmoor to assess the scale of the problem, says its research has since influenced amends to sheep dip licensing rules.

Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and national stake- holder groups have reached an agreement for farmers and contractors to temporarily store spent sheep dip at a place controlled by the producer of the waste, pending collection or disposal.

As a result, a Government review of the sheep industry is expected to take place in 2019.

Dr Dave Valder, from the Westcountry Rivers Trust, said: “Our research is already starting to deliver benefits, by understanding and managing some of the costs of dealing with sheep scab. However, this is just the beginning and there is a lot more to follow.”

The Westcountry Rivers Trust, in partnership with the Dartmoor Hill Farm Project, Duchy of Cornwall and the Environment Agency, led a study in spring of this year and carried out a series of farm visits, consultation with vets practices, specialists and farm suppliers to understand how sheep scab is managed on Dartmoor.

Costing the sheep sector an estimated £8 million each year, the assessment focused on common grazing, licensing, management, the storage and disposal of sheep dip across Dartmoor National Park.

An acute reaction caused by the parasitic sheep scab mite, sheep scab can impact on the welfare of any flock. It causes loss of condition, leaving the animal more susceptible to other ailments, leading to extensive skin lesions and in the worst cases death.

In 1992 the Government dropped its policy of mandatory sheep dipping, historically used to prevent the disease, as a result of concerns over the use of organophosphate chemicals. While some farmers continue to use sheep dip to prevent sheep scab, others instead use regular injections, sprays and other veterinary treat- ments as protection against infection.

However, it has recently been evidenced that the scab mite is developing resistance to some treatments, so many farmers are expected to return to using sheep dip as the most effective way to control sheep scab.

Dr Valder added: “Along with sheep welfare, farmers need to understand the implications of returning to a dipping programme, such as licenses, waste disposal fees, farm infrastructure and the wider environment.”

‘This is just the start and there is a lot more to follow’

Westcountry Rivers Trust