The Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) group is continuing to offer its Nematodirus Forecast at no charge, providing a vital service for sheep farmers, vets and advisers to protect the health of lambs born this spring.

Nematodirus is one of the first parasitic challenges lambs face when they begin to rely more on grazed grass and less on their mothers’ milk, meaning the disease can often strike before they have any immunity. This, coupled with the incredible speed that worm eggs can hatch if the weather favours them, means sheep farmers can face significant losses. That is why the SCOPS Nematodirus Forecast, with its easy-to-understand traffic light system, is being increasingly relied upon by the sheep sector.

Farmers can access the SCOPS Nematodirus Forecast here, with 140 weather stations around the UK on the map, colour coded to indicate low, moderate, high and very high risk in that locality. Additional support information is provided alongside the forecast, supporting farmers to take into account variation from farm to farm and even field to field. SCOPS is able to provide the Nematodirus Forecast at no cost to the end user thanks to the sponsorship of Bimeda and Techion (FECPAK^G2), and weather data provided by Visual Crossing.