Livestock producers should plan ahead for new fly control feed additives.
As the warmer weather picks up, flies become a problem for cattle. They can rob animals of weight gain and they cause up a billion dollars in damage every year in the U.S.
The Sales Director of Central Life Sciences says that now is the time to plan with all of the unpredictable weather.
According to Mark Upton, “You need to start on fly control about 30 days ahead of the fly season. That may be a little long but at least two or three weeks ahead of the fly season, and you need to keep doing whatever it is you’re doing for flies about 30 days after the first frost... because if it warms back up, those flies have not gone into what is called a ‘die-pause’, or basically hibernation... So, it’s really important that producers stay vigilant about trying to control their flies until they’re completely gone for the winter.”
He says that feed additives work better than tags or contact sprays because they are cheaper and will keep the number of flies down on the farm.