Managing Parasites in an Organic System
In Australia, to sell livestock as "organic", producers are not allowed to treat livestock with veterinary chemicals (anthelmintics) to control internal parasites. There is also mounting pressure in conventional livestock systems to reduce reliance on anthelmintics because of the increasing prevalence of drug-resistant worms and because of consumer concerns over chemical residues.
To effectively control internal parasites in organic livestock systems you must know and manage the relevant risk factors. The first step in good worm control is to identify which worms are present, their life cycles, what conditions favor their survival, and how they affect host animals.