Increased rains in Oklahoma this past spring has brought some not-so-welcome friends.Fly and tick populations have increased, which means cattle producers are fighting an uphill battle this summer with these blood-sucking pests. The cattle industry suffers $1.3 billion in losses annually from horn flies alone. They are considered the number one external parasite for cattle across the country.Justin Talley, Oklahoma State University professor and Extension specialist for livestock entomology, said horn flies and lone star ticks have ramped up this summer and are likely to get worse in July and August.“Flies on a cow each take anywhere from 1.5 to 2 milligrams of blood, but multiply that by 300 to 1,000 flies, and that becomes severe irritation,” Talley said, adding that it’s important producers choose the correct control method.“It’s not one-size-fits-all. Whatever works within a production system – whether it’s ear tags, pour-ons or sprays – producers need to understand the longevity of these methods,” he said.Talley said ear tags will provide three months of adequate control, while sprays only provide one to two weeks and pour-ons provide two to three weeks’ worth of control. “What our research shows is that the combination of an ear tag with a feeding supplementation of insect growth regulator (IGR) is what keeps fly populations down for the longest amount of time,” he said. “These are commercial products that cattle producers can buy, but they need to feed that consistently and early on.”Ear tags kill adult flies while the IGR suppresses overall fly populations. Talley said it is best for producers to start the IGR feeding regimen in March, but that doesn’t mean they can’t start it now. “It will be more of an uphill battle than if you started it in March, but you can still see a further reduction with this feed supplement versus just doing an ear tag,” he said. Ticks are the more challenging parasite to combat. “Sometimes, they go unseen unless you’re processing those animals through a cattle chute,” Talley said. “We will usually feel a tick before we see it by conducting a tick scratch, which any producer can do.” This entails running your hands around the brisket, between the legs and underneath the tail of the cow.
