Purpose

In this new digital world, accessing information, advice and opinion has never been easier, but getting tailor-made information that individuals want and need to make informed decisions may actually be getting more difficult. Accessing clear, honest and trusted advice is important for all individuals, but when it comes to livestock farming, the information is often used to make decisions regarding the day-to-day and long-term management of stock, which in turn affects farm finances, future planning, investment and resource allocation.

Farming requires the integration of a wide range of skills to address complex and inter-linked problems, therefore, different stakeholders need to be involved in the development, communication and implementation of advice such as on sustainable worm control measures. The involvement of different audiences brings its own complications, as different stakeholders may have different expectations, priorities and challenges. Good practice guidelines and recommendations need to take account of differences in the perspectives and understanding of individual stakeholders. Understanding and embracing these expectations is key to developing acceptable messages and is why an integrated socio-ecological approach is essential, as a one-size-fits-all approach does not work in every region/country.

Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN; roundworm) infections rank as one of the top three production-limiting pathogens of ruminant stock. On most farms GINs occur as co-infections both with other parasites (multiple roundworm species, fluke and/or ecto-parasite) as well as bacteria and viruses. Control of most parasites should be based on a variety of chemical and non-chemical treatment options that can be adapted to individual farms. Nonetheless, each farm and farmer are essentially unique, so the adaptations required to apply the recommendations and advice from diverse sources of information can lead to misunderstandings, making compliance challenging. Focus group discussions with Scottish sheep farmers found that uptake of advice was often hindered by the messages being too complex or because diverse sources of information gave what appeared to be different guidance. Other potential barriers, as identified by us through previous Scottish Government funded research, are visually represented in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Word-cloud of barriers to effective communication to farmers and veterinarians.

Another SEFARI Gateway funded Responsive Opportunity project - identified ten stakeholder priorities for supporting and informing farmers; four were continued education, ongoing collaboration, evidence-based science and the need for trusted independent knowledge sources.  Therefore this project sought to help address these identified needs and aimed to:

• Signpost available advice and information for stakeholders
• Investigate areas of interest around the topic of sustainable roundworm control in livestock
• Explore the use of new immersive (360°/virtual reality) and/or digital technologies to promote end-user engagement and best practice.