Sustainable Technology; DAGI’s green traffic lights for green fields.

‘Sustainability’ is a term that houses a huge amount of meaning, and it can be viewed through multiple different lenses.

Simplistically, it is the balance of being able to meet the needs of the present, without compromising the needs of the future, and in the past, when sustainability has not been fully considered, difficulties have often arisen. A perfect example of this trend is the problem of triple drench resistance in sheep. 

As with many modern day issues, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Over the last few decades the application of anthelmintics has possibly been a little overzealous, with the current outcome being that options on drench choices on many farms are becoming limited. Veterinarians are having to examine how they can best support the industry through the challenges of today – but this time with the future firmly in mind.

A somewhat biased view presents sustainability as a mass of multisward pastures, crystal clear rivers with an abundance of species thriving across the farm. And that is one of the lenses through which Sustainability can certainly be viewed. But sustainability can also look like technology. Data soaked algorithms and glass screens don’t initially fill one with the warm, fuzzy ‘Sustainable’ feelings, but the work of sustainability consultant, Grace Boardman, in building an App to assist with appropriate anthelmintic use, brings a wonderful alignment of the two perspectives. 

DAGI (Drench And Grazing Integration) was born from a vet’s frustration that sheep farmers were having to juggle too many variables when considering their worm situation. The factors that contribute to larval hatching are well known; temperature, moisture levels and seasonality. These are not difficult things to track in 2025. Farmers also know their farm’s history; where livestock have grazed, how long paddocks have been empty, what stock classes have been where and when they were drenched. From this information, it is possible to draw together data that allows visualisation of some of the pillars of the Wormwise ‘FARMED’ system (Feed, Avoidance, Refugia, Monitoring and Effective Drenching). Wormwise is an industry wide program from Beef and Lamb New Zealand, which has parasite management at its core [1]. Arguably, Avoidance and Refugia are the hardest of this model to follow; they present invisible concepts, which are hard to actively monitor and remain multifactorial. But when all the contributing variables are considered, they can be integrated with some very clever pre-existing models, and included in the design of the DAGI App, with outputs simplified into a traffic light system. 

DAGI colour codes the paddocks and livestock groups by how worm contaminated they are, and of that population of worms, what proportion is likely to be resistant. This allows the farmer to easily visualize what are likely to be good grazing options, and what areas need to be addressed to reduce the risk to their stock. The traffic light system is easy to follow and universally understood, suddenly making two of the hardest concepts of worm management totally intuitive.

And is this sustainable? Absolutely! The app is all about the future; planning ahead, and learning lessons about what ‘turned’ paddocks red, while still allowing farming in the present. The app leads to decreasing the use of anthelmintics by only using them in very specific ways and reduced use of anthelmintics means less resistance build up, but also less chemicals in the environment to the benefit of other invertebrates.

It’s also sustainable in terms of the people using it. By helping farmers engage with the problem of drench resistance, by giving them the tools which make it easy to understand and also put into practice, Grace’s work is also ensuring the future of their farms. Using the app feels intensely satisfying – almost game-like, with the object being to turn your paddocks and mobs green, and working out which tools are the most appropriate to do that. This might not involve drenching; moving a group of cattle into a wormy paddock may achieve more. The development of the DAGI App seems like an important step forward in sustainable parasite management and Grace’s work in this important area is a fine example of the impact Veterinary Consultants can have on improving the sustainability of farming systems.

Find out more at https://www.dagi.nz or email [email protected]