04/19/07 Bye, bye fly

Bye, Bye Fly Summer is just around the corner and that means warm weather and trouble for cattle. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to reveal that trouble. Summer and warm weather means horn fly time is fast approaching. These little bloodsuckers are a total irritation and cause weight loss in cattle. Horn flies attack cattle with or without horns  it really doesn't matter to them although a few may have a personal preference. The first wave of these pests are already in pastures awaiting the arrival of cattle since they over winter as pupas underneath manure pads or in the soil. I'm sure the head pupa waiter in each pasture is taking orders right now from his pupae bodies that can select calves, cows or bulls. Color preferences are probably negotiated as well as the age of the bovine selected. Ordering a bull will cost more since they are a favorite of horn flies and there are less of them in the herd. A cow or bull without a full tail switch to swat a fly will of course be the highest price item on the menu. When the orders arrive pupas turn into flies and feed on their host 20 to 30 times a day by piercing the skin to ingest small amounts of blood. Cattlemen can ruin the horn flies party with insecticide distributed by back rubbers, dust bags, back pour-ons, spraying, feed additives, bolus application or insecticide-impregnated ear tags. Walk-through flytraps and pasture rotation to break the fly life cycle are also effective. Pupa head waiters residing on ranches with a horn fly management plan have a lot more trouble taking orders for the summer feast. I'm Jeff Keane. National Cattlemen Spring 2007