Research into staggers could save millions

Media release

23 May 2007

Research into staggers could save agricultural industry millions

Further research into perennial ryegrass staggers could potentially save the New Zealand agricultural industry millions of dollars.

First identified 70 years ago, ryegrass staggers is a neurological condition which affects grazing animals such as sheep, deer, cattle and horses. It is estimated to cost New Zealand’s agricultural industry $100 million each year.

According to the head of Massey Equine Veterinary Clinic, Prof. Joe Mayhew, there is no clinical evidence that the money currently being spent on feed and drugs used for the prevention and cure of ryegrass staggers has any real benefits.

Joe, who is speaking at the NZVA Large Animal veterinary Conference in Palmerston North this week, said if they were able to do more comprehensive research to understand more about how ryegrass staggers work, they could potentially develop an accurate diagnostic test which would ultimately mean huge savings to the agricultural industry.

Although researchers have established the biochemical defect present in animals afflicted with ryegrass staggers they haven’t worked out a way of diagnosing staggers before the clinical signs appear.

“As with cattle and sheep, by the time we are able to diagnose the condition in horses, animals will likely have suffered a reduction in growth and/or an impairment of reproduction and performance.

“These are pretty huge subclinical effects before we’ve even noticed the animal is sick.”

In addition, because the clinical signs of ryegrass staggers are very similar to other diseases, Joe said, animals could easily be misdiagnosed and be treated for a raft of diseases with totally different approaches than that for staggers, all of which cost the farmer.

“If we could diagnose the animals accurately, we could save money by medicating animals precisely and by preventing the onset of severe symptoms.

“By being able to take preventative measures to stem the loss of productivity, performance and reproductive or growth loss we could save even more.”

Joe, who is a one of a small group of international scientists studying equine neurology, said the knowledge of ryegrass staggers in horses is even less than that of ruminants.

“We don’t even know what the precise range of clinical effects of ryegrass staggers in horses are, let alone the subclinical effects. We simply need to do more research.

“Funding for research now would undoubtedly save considerable costs for the agricultural industry in the future as well a providing a positive contribution to increased productivity,” he said.

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