Internal parasites are one of the most important animal health issues for Australian agriculture, with implications for animal welfare and productivity.

Control of internal parasites is an important part of managing the animals kept on the school ag plot and demonstrating best practice to students.

Both livestock and non-livestock species are susceptible to internal parasites. The information presented in this section largely relates to livestock species, i.e. sheep, cattle, goats, poultry and pigs.

The NSW Department of Industry and Investment has a number of factsheets that provide information about the internal parasites that effect livestock species and the control and treatment strategies available. These can be found in their health and disease section.

Controlling internal parasites on school ag plots has additional complications to those experienced by commercial producers as school farms are often small in area with high stocking rates and house animals that move to different sites regularly. This means that rotational use of paddocks is often difficult and there is a heightened need for quarantining stock.

Anne Oakenful, parasitologist from the NSW Department of Industry and Investment, gave an excellent presentation at the Ag skills workshop at Tocal on 29 October 2009. She has kindly made this powerpoint presentation, Internal parasites, available for teachers of agriculture to use for educational purposes.