By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
Flies do more than just bite cattle. They can take a bite out of ranchers’ profits, too. The extra energy spent in constant head-tossing, stomping and overall restlessness translates to lost profits from missed opportunities in weight gain and milk production for beef and dairy cattle.
There are several options for fly control, including mechanical, biological and chemical strategies. But feed-through fly control is one of the most effective and easiest forms.
Central Life Sciences has two products that are approved for use in cattle herds.
“Our first product, Altosid, is targeted to pasture cattle. When you put cattle on pasture, the number one pest is a horn fly, and Altosid has just great action against horn flies,” Mark Upton, director of Feed Additives Sales for Central Life Sciences, said.
Altosid, which has been on the market for more than 40 years, is an insect growth regulator. It should be fed before horn flies appear in early spring and continued through the summer months and into fall. The company’s general advice is to feed 30 days before average daily daytime temperatures reach 65 degrees and end 30 days after the first frost in the fall.
“The horn fly causes $1 billion a year in economic losses to beef cattle in North America. We need to do something to try to eliminate that,” Upton said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “The other problem is these flies carry diseases. Oftentimes a cow that has a bad quarter, so she’s got mastitis or some other issues, those are caused by flies. From an economic standpoint in terms of production, but also disease prevention, fly control is extremely important.”
Central Life Science’s other product, ClariFly, is designed for animals in confinement like dairies or feedyards. Upton noted animals in close quarters tend to have several different species of flies affecting them, including house flies, stable flies and horn flies.
ClariFly stops flies in the larval stage.
“There’s just a lot of reasons that we need to do something to try to keep these flies in check,” Upton said. “Fortunately, we’ve got some products that really work well to do that. Both products have a tremendous amount of benefits, and a very good return on investment.”
For more information, visit https://www.centrallifesciences.com/markets/livestock.
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