Final Report: Benchmarking Australian Sheep Parasite Control

Abstract

<p><b>Background.</b> Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) commissioned this third Benchmarking Australian Sheep Parasite survey to benchmark the 2018 sheep parasite control practices of Australian woolgrowers. The results of this survey will provide industry with information to address the parasite control needs of sheep. For the first time, this survey will compare the parasite control practices of wool sheep with meat sheep and cross-bred sheep. Documenting current parasite practices will highlight the effectiveness of extension networks and identify where more attention is required. By comparing the results of this survey with two previous surveys, we can measure change in attitudes to parasite control which will inform extension work.</p> <p>The two previous surveys were conducted in 2004 and 2012 which surveyed the years 2003 and 2011, respectively. Both surveyed only sheep producers who managed 500 sheep or more. The 2004 survey was conducted through the IPM-Sheep project, funded by AWI and comprised 30 questions. It was the largest survey of its kind in Australia with 1365 responses to the main questionnaire and 958 to the short survey. In 2012 a follow up survey was commissioned by AWI and MLA from which 575 usable responses were achieved for the main survey and 444 for the short survey.</p> <p><b>Methods.</b> For the first time the Benchmarking Australian Sheep Parasite survey was conducted online with paper copies available upon request. An invitation to participate in the survey with a link to the online questionnaire was sent to the AWI email list of approximately 6460 wool producers, with only those who managed 100 sheep or more asked to proceed with the survey. The survey was available online for 10 weeks launching on the 5th February 2019 and closing on 16th April 2019. Three reminder emails were sent out to wool growers on weeks 4, 6 and 8. A short five question survey was emailed to the same email cohort at the end of the survey period to evaluate non-response bias in the responses to the full questionnaire. The majority of the survey questions related to the calendar year 2018.</p> <p><b>Summary of findings.</b> The survey involved a total of 6460 initial emails to wool producers who had registered their email accounts with AWI. A total of 354 responses were obtained for the main survey with a further 250 responses for the short survey. Not all questions were attempted by all respondents, the number of respondents per question is presented with the data. The survey response rate for the main survey was lower than the previous two surveys which received 1365 responses in 2004 and 575 in 2011. Survey fatigue, the length of the questionnaire, severe drought in a large part of the country and presentation of the questionnaire as an online survey were all possible contributors to the low response rate. The surveys will be referred to by the calendar year referred to in the respective survey questionnaires: 2003, 2011 and 2018.</p>