Based on the 2022 National Agriculture census Nelson County farms have and estimated 35,000 head of cattle in various production settings.  Many obstacles exist to the profitability of our cattle farms such as input cost, loss of livestock, breeding inefficiency,  parasites etc.  Parasites within the animals can contribute to poor gains, lack of rebreeding, and lethargy.  Our farmers have a plethora of tools in their arsenal to combat intestinal parasites on the farm, however we don't fully understand the efficacy of the said options for treatment.    

To investigate this conundrum we as a county and state participated in a national study to investigate what the resistance issues might be, who in the herd should be treated and to what production methods lend themselves to higher incidence of intestinal parasites.  The study was conducted by the agent collecting fecal samples from at least 20 individual animals from the same farm and in the same treatment paddock.   Within a day of the initial collection of fecal samples the farmer would then apply a treatment of his or her choice to the treatment group.  Meanwhile the sample is sent to a predetermined third party for analysis of types and quantities of parasite eggs within the sample.  Exactly fourteen days after the treatment of the animals by the farmer the agent returns to the farm and takes at least 20 fecal samples from the previously tested lot of animals.  Those samples are then sent to the same lab for analysis and the resulting outcome then can be compared for effectiveness.  

This study was offered to all cattle producers in nelson county and we ended up with 5 participating farms 

This study was initialized by Dr. Jeff Lehmkuhler and Dr. Michelle Arnold from the University of Kentucky and sponsored by  

Program impact or participant response.