Latest developments in RD&E at Flystrike Forum

Delegates at the Flystrike Technical Forum held in Sydney, NSW

Updates on the use of nanoparticles to prolong protection from flystrike and lice, chemical resistance in blowflies, and genetic trends for breech strike traits in sheep were discussed at the Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) Flystrike RD&E Technical Forum attended by Sheep Sustainability Framework (SSF) members in August.

The forums, held every two years, bring together researchers, woolgrowers, and welfare groups to discuss future directions and expectations of the flystrike program.

Tiny silica nanoparticles less than a thousandth of a millimetre in size are showing potential to deliver pesticides to protect sheep against flystrike, in a program at the University of Queensland (UQ). The nanoparticles have surface spikes that are purpose-built to carry chemicals, and UQ’s Dr Peter James says lab results are promising.

The next stage of research will be testing the technology in the field, and it’s also being explored to potentially prolong the effectiveness of analgesics or anaesthetics for pain relief.

A new two-year collaborative AWI project aims to improve understanding of chemical resistance in blowflies. A new blowfly resistance model developed by the University of Tasmania (UTAS) will be used to update recommendations for woolgrowers on how to prevent or slow down the development of resistance to common flystrike treatments.

New South Wales Department of Primary Industries will build on an earlier project to determine the toxicological profiles of blowflies resistant to key chemicals, providing phenotypic evidence of any cross resistance to blowfly chemicals. Blowfly strains considered of importance to the study of resistance will be forwarded to the University of Melbourne for genetic mapping, which in turn will identify the gene(s) involved in the resistance to key chemicals, providing important information for the UTAS model.

AWI’s Geoff Lindon recapped breech strike risk factors before examining the trends for Australian Sheep Breeding Values (ASBV) scores for Merino breech strike traits from 2010 to 2020 and revealed new work in flystrike genomics.

SSF Steering Group Chair, Dr Scott Williams, spoke about how the industry’s SSF and the Wool 2030 strategies align with AWI’s new three-year Strategic Plan and Annual Operating Plans. The first SSF Annual Report, issued in July, reports data on industry progress against key sustainability priorities, including the control of flystrike, across the Australian sheep industry’s domestic value chain.

The presentation slides from this event plus further information on the projects that make up AWI’s current investment in RD&E for flystrike prevention are available at www.wool.com/flystrikelatest.