Lambs aged seven weeks of age on average and presenting with signs of nematodirus infection. Farmers need to be mindful to the risk of nematodirus occurring earlier in 2021. The Department of Agriculture released its nematodirus forecast last Thursday, three weeks earlier than in 2020. The forecast highlights that nematodirus larval hatching is expected to peak between 23 March and 13 April. This is a week earlier, on average, than would normally be expected, with the forecast citing higher than normal soil temperatures as being responsible. Farmers should also be mindful that there is quite a bit of variation across the country. The peak larval hatching period for most of the country is expected in the week of 5 April to 10 April. The exception to this is the southwest and northwest coastal region, where peak hatching is expected to have occurred in the period between late March and the first few days of April, as reflected in Figure 1.