Agricultural News
Vet Specialist AJ Tarpoff Offers Advice on How to Begin Making Decisions Regarding Fly Control
Thu, 01 Jun 2017 10:40:28 CDT
It is that time of year again to start making decisions regarding fly-control for cattle on grass. Extension Veterinary Specialist A.J. Tarpoff of Kansas State University, told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, producers should document their insecticide use, to help make future decisions when it comes to choosing the most effective product and method of application. One major issue involving product effectiveness, is getting the timing of administration right.
"All the products that we us on the animal health side have a time of duration," he said. "It's not realistic to believe that the products we use in the spring are going to last all the way into the first frost when those flies and external parasites go away."
Many producers, Tarpoff says, make the mistake of administering their control products too early. He recommends you wait until late May to early June, and that you look for the economic level of flies to reach approximately 200 flies per animal as a good indicator of when to start. He also recommends to switch product type each year to avoid breeding resistance in fly populations.
"Putting them in too early in the season can have detrimental effects at the end of the season when we need that product the most," Tarpoff said. "And just because a product worked last year, doesn't mean that's the same product you need to be using this year."
Listen to Tarpoff and Hays discuss the many available methods of fly control, on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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