There is concern within the beef industry that our products we now have available to treat animals for control of internal parasites are becoming less effective.  We are well aware of this issue in small ruminants and the lack of effectiveness of various products.  Two classes of products are now over 30 and 50 years old since they were developed.  

The University of KY Martin Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, and specialist from the Beef Department offered producers a chance to participate in research trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the product they are using for parasite control.  The Bracken  County Extension office  worked with 2 herds to collect fecal samples from 20 cows in each herd with both a pre treatment sample and 14 days later with a post treatment sample.  These samples were submitted and tested under the Fecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT).  

Both herds had lower numbers of egg counts following winter dry lot housing on the pre treatment samples.  The post treatment samples did show significant reduction in fecal egg counts in both herds.  This test will be repeated in the fall after the herds have grazed pastures all summer.  This should be a more impactful test as parasite numbers may be higher due to greater exposure of potential parasite numbers.  The overall study of more than 80 herds across the state will give a good indication of the effectiveness of various products used for beef parasite control.