Welcome to our Facial Eczema Spore Count Bulletin for 2023 – this article will be updated each week, so please revisit to see what the spore count is in your area.
Shannon | Ihakara | Foxton | Moutoa | Waitarere | Levin | Kuku | Manakau | Otaki | Te Horo |
10,000 | 15,000 | 105,000 | 20,000 | 30,000 | 30,000 | 45,000 | 20,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 |
What is a toxic spore level? It is best not to use absolute levels, as stock grazing pasture with spore counts as low as 20,000-40,000 can sustain liver damage. More important considerations are rate of spore count rise, prevailing weather conditions, and grazing intensity at the time. Toxin effects on the liver are cumulative. Play it safe – start prevention as soon as spores are detected.
Spore counts have increased at all sites this week – Foxton has jumped up significantly. We recommend full zinc doses in all areas if you haven’t started yet, whether that be in the water, feed, zinc bolusing or oral drenching. Please refer to the recommendations below for your method of prevention
Click here to open the full report that shows the counts on our sentinel sites.
Click Here for advice on facial eczema prevention.
Spore counts can vary greatly between properties and even between paddocks. We recommend spore counting your own property if you are worried. Talk to the tech team if you have any questions around to how to collect the sample. Spore counting is around $33 per sample, dropping to $26 for multiple samples.
If you have any questions pop into the clinic or give us a call on 06 368 2891 (Extension 1 for the farm team)