By Tracy Courage
U of A System Division of Agriculture
LITTLE ROCK — Producers of small ruminants can get certified in using the FAMACHA system — a tool for managing parasite control in goats and sheep — at a free training offered May 2 by the Cooperative Extension Service.
FAMACHA — Joan Burke, an animal scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center, will be the guest speaker at a FAMACHA certification training on May 2.
Attendees will learn about the biology of the main parasites that affect goats, sheep and other animals and learn about integrated parasite management. They’ll become certified in using FAMACHA — short for Faffa Malan Chart, a diagnostic method for identifying the presence of Barber’s pole worm — Haemonchus contortus.
“As barber pole worm is a bloodsucker parasite, a high parasite load can decrease appetite, affect digestion and cause anemia,” said Dan Quadros, extension small ruminant specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “In severe cases, parasite infections can kill sheep and goats. FAMACHA is an easy, accessible method to check the animals and determine if they need treatment.”
The training will be held 8:30 a.m.-noon at the Sebastian County Fairgrounds, 530 E. Knoxville St., Greenwood. The training is free, but online registration is required and available at https://www.uaex.uada.edu/famacha25.
Joan Burke, a research animal scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center, will lead the training.
Burke has researched the control of gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep and goats. Her program addresses issues that producers may encounter with their livestock, such as organic and grass-fed production systems for ruminant livestock and alternatives to synthetic dewormers, such as specialty forages, genetic and genomic selection for parasite resistance, nutrition, and products such as copper oxide wire particles.
Burke is also one of the founding members of the American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.