Grazing management The number of animais needing fluke drench could be reduced by more attention to grazing
management. Identify the snail-infested pastures
on the property; only those animals grazing these areas need treatment. A rotational grazing program was once recommended in Australia to eliminate infection, but unfortunately the system was never widely
adopted. The theory was to first use an effective drench
before moving stock to potentially contaminated areas. The second step was to altemate the
grazing between the potentially fluke-infected areas and the fluke-free areas. Grazing in infected areas would be for less time than it takes the fluke to reach maturity and produce eggs (six weeks).
Grazing would be for longer periods in fluke-free areas. Here, any fluke picked up on the fluke-infested paddocks would reach the adult stage but
would be removed by drenching about two weeks before stock moved back to contaminated pastures. The major objection was the difficulty in organising pasture rotation and the problems of moving fences or erecting new fences.
However, the system could be easily applied to many properties where only a small number of paddocks have suitable snail habitats. In mixed
grazing properties the more resistant cattle could be grazed on the known fluke-prone areas. These animals are less likely to be affected and would require less treatment.