Farm and Agricultural Pest Control Services by Leaf Pest Control

Why should dairy farmers want to control flies?

Here are some of the harmful effects resulting from excess flys in the farming industry:

• Reduce milk production as cows expend energy fending off flies. They may also stop eating, being only concerned with fighting the flies. Studies have shown 15-30% lower milk production due to flies.
• Cause reduced feed conversion efficiency. Stable flies have been known to cause severe weight retardation in young calves and beef cattle.
• Cause blood loss.
• Cause hide damage.
• Increase the risk of complaints and legal action from the public.
• Put stress on young replacement animals, delaying their entry into production and adversely affecting lifelong production performance.
• Reduce farm worker productivity as flies interfere with work such as feeding and milking. Both animals and humans are annoyed and suffer from stable fly bites.
• Cattle tend to huddle together to protect their legs and belly from painful stable fly bites. They stomp their feet to dislodge the flies and this leads to animal fatigue.
• Increase the frequency of animal disease transmission, leading to increased medication costs and increased veterinary service costs. Diseases transmitted to dairy cows by flies include mastitis, pink-eye, brucellosis and streptococci and staphylococci bacterial infections. They can also transmit salmonella and E. coli, increasing the likelihood of milk contamination and loss.
• Increase the potential for spread of human diseases.