The Fly Season
It’s summertime. The weather
is hot and muggy, and flies are a
major bother to you and your
cows.
And on top of that, your neigh
bor threatens to go to the township
supervisors and get them to do
something about your flies attack
ing their property.
Nobody likes to swat flies at the
dinner table that may then hill into
the iced tea or mashed potatoes,
but your neighbors arc even less
understanding.
Poultry houses and swine
operations have major problems
coping with flies, but dairy farms
can also present problems if cer
tain practices are not followed.
Fly control management should
be a combination of cultural, bio-
PAUL B.
THE HOT SUMMER IS HERE!
36" HIGH VOLUME
DIRECT-DRIVE
MOBILE
CIRCULATOR
36” & 48” TUNNEL VENTILATED FANS IN STOCK
PAUL B. ZIMMERMAN, INC.
5O Woodcorner Rd.
Lititz, PA 17543
• FARM SUPPLIES l Mile West of Ephrata
717-738*7350
Chester County
Dairy Milk Lines
Walter Wurster
Extension
Dairy Agent
logical, and chemical practices.
Some of the key points include:
1. Sanitation, sanitation, and
more sanitation. The life cycle of a
fly requires that immature flies
(eggs, larvae, pupae) live in man
ure, moist hay, spilled silage, wet
grain, etc., for 10-21 days. Prime
areas for breeding flies include
animal pens (especially calf hous
ing), poorly drained free-stalls,
stall bam gutters, wet feed in man
gers and bunks as well as feed and
forage accumulation around silos.
Gutters and mangers should be
cleaned daily and pens and feed
around silos should be cleaned
weekly.
2. Sticky Ribbons. They can
manage low or moderate fly popu
lations as long as they are changed
FOR FARM-HOME-INDUSTRY
60” AGRICULTURAL
CEILING FAN
Cultural Control
VENIUATIHG FANS
CIRCULATORS
'Jo'[
HOURS .
Mon., Thurs., Frl. 7-8:30
Tues., Wed. 7-5:30
Sat: 7-4:00
every 1-2 weeks to keep them
from drying out, getting coated
with dust, or becoming saturated
with flies.
3. Keep milk house a fly-free
zone. Screen doors and windows
must be installed and maintained.
Traffic in and out of the milk
house should be kept to a mini
mum. The occasional fly that does
get in can be controlled with
sticky tapes, light traps, or certain
approved insecticides.
4. Prevent flies from immigrat
ing from the farm to your neigh
bors. By spreading manure and
bedding as thinly as possible in the
field, it will dry down quickly and
inhibit the fly cycle. Incorporating
the manure in the soil also helps.
Correct drainage problems around
barnyards that allow manure and
mud to accumulate along fence
lines.
Biological Control
Flies do have natural enemies
that are commonly present in
dairy bams. Beetles and mites de
vour fly eggs and larvae, adult
flies are prone to disease, and fly
SINGLE AND
DOUBLE PANEL
SHUTTERS
M
36" AND 48”
BELT DRIVE AND
DIRECT DRIVE
POULTRY FANS
pupae are attacked by parasitic
wasps.
The wasp best adapted to
Northeast dairy farms is Muscidi
furax raptor. These wasps are like
“smart bombs” in that they live
only to find and kill fly pupae.
They sting the fly pupae, killing
the fly, and by their egg inside the
pupae which then hatches in three
weeks to continue the cycle.
Thu seemingly perfect solution
to fly control has a few problems
that give flies a fighting chance.
First, flies develop twice as fast
from egg to adult, live longer, and
by more eggs than the parasitic
wasp. Consequently, in late May
and early June, parasitic wasp
popubtions are usually behind
that of the fly by several weeks.
Secondly, parasitic wasps are
less tolerant of insecticides. Re
sidual sprays such as permethrin,
dimethoate, and rabon are highly
toxic to the wasps. Parasitic wasp
popubtions can be conserved by
using compatible insecticides
Chaster County DHIA
Juno 1985
Cows producing over 800 lbs. protsln srs
Nsms Brssd Ags Milk Fat
Lson D. Kurtz
Kiwi
Marilyn & Du ana Hershey
Baauty
Baar
Baaut
Sassy II
Swan Best Dairy
66
Ardrossan Farms
Birdeye
Lavi S. King
Orpha
Dunwood Farm
Abigail
Logic
Doris
Crystal-Ray Farm
Orpha
Ridge Star Farm
111
30
Walmoor* Inc. «3
664
3026
Joy-Wil Farm
38
13
Century Oak Farm
JiU
Highpoint Acres
Minnie
David K. Stottzfus
4
28
Thunder Valley Farm
34
Mark & Melody Stoltzfus
Glenda
llika
Wilkinson Farm
3014
3102
46
David F. King
87
Ar Joy II
Janelle
Beth
Richard L. Myers
325
Mehwood Farm
Dandy
Breck-A-De Farm
124
Pei Valley Farm
61
MKK.
IT DOES A
BODY GOOD.
such as methomyl scatter baits and
pyrelhrin space sprays.
The Muscidifurax raptor para
sitic wasp can be purchased and
released weekly beginning in the
middle of May at the rate of
200/cow and 1000/calf. The cost
for the summer varies from $2.60
to $4.70 per cow, but in many cas
es, the farm will use 80 percent
less insecticides, which mote than
offsets the cost
Chemical Control
There are numerous insecti
cides on the market both
knock-down and residual sprays.
Be careful to read the label, follow
any safety precautions, and apply
as directed. And, maybe they
should be used as a last resort after
the above-mentioned cultural and
biological methods have been
tried.
Good fly control not only
makes life on the farm mote en
joyable for you, your family, and
your employees, but it can be a
major ingredient in a good neigh
bor policy.
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