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The management of parasitic nematodes calls for a shift from conventional, indiscriminate, anthelmintic use to a more precise approach, directed by diagnostics. We should accept those parasite infection intensities that have minimal impact on production and welfare rather than attempt to eliminate them. The diagnostic toolbox for gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) faces challenges due to anthelmintic resistance (AR), which is species-specific, drug-class-specific, and varies by region. We discuss which traditional tools may become obsolete and which tools need development to gain widespread use. Social science research highlights the need for dialogue between farmers and veterinarians that emphasises effective parasite management and upskilling the veterinary workforce for more sustainable practices centred on diagnostics to be adopted in practice by 2030., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To mitigate emerging anthelmintic resistance (AR) in cattle, sustainable gastrointestinal nematode control strategies should be adopted. A multi-centre study was set up to understand the factors affecting European dairy cattle farmers' adoption of diagnostics and to gauge for differences between regions. The data were collected through a multi-lingual survey by participating countries of the European Co-operation in Science and Technology (COST) action COMbatting Anthelmintic Resistance in ruminants (COMBAR). Four countries provided sufficient data to be included in the data analysis: Norway, Italy, Germany and Austria. Three models were estimated and validated through structural equation modelling. Norway, along with Germany and Austria (pooled dataset) showed similar trends that align with previous studies. AR risk perception had no influence on the adoption intention of diagnostics, a positive influence was found for attitude towards diagnostics and subjective norms (i.e., perceived opinion of others), and a negative influence of attitudes towards anthelminthics. Additionally, routine (i.e., perception of the current treatment) had an indirect effect on adoption intention through attitudes. Italy's data deviated from these findings, presenting a positive effect of the perceived severity of AR, and perceived behavioural control (i.e., perceived ability to perform a specific behaviour) on adoption intention of diagnostics. Finally, Norway's data set allowed for inclusion of a measurement of current behaviour in the model, identifying a direct positive effect of the perceived actual behaviour of other farmers on their own behaviour., (© F. Vande Velde et al., published by EDP Sciences, 2023.)

This study investigates how to change farmers' unsustainable use of anthelmintic drugs. More specifically, it focuses on discouraging this behavior by using message sidedness in a humorous advertisement. The effects of the message on intentions to change behavior were measured through a cognitive and affective route of persuasion. Using a 2 (message sidedness: one-sided vs. two-sided) x 2 (humor: humorous vs. non-humorous message framing) between-subjects design (N=167), we tested the persuasiveness of the advertisement. Results show that a two-sided message without humor evoked more negative cognitive responses (e.g. negative thoughts), than a one-sided message, leading to fewer changes in behavioral intention. However, a two-sided message resulted in increased pro-environmental behavioral intention compared to a one-sided message when humor was used as a frame in the advertisement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]