Friday, 04 February 2022 06:55

Keeping flies at bay a big challenge

Written by  Staff Reporters
The best and most effective approach to preventing flystrike is to use a combination of strategies known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The best and most effective approach to preventing flystrike is to use a combination of strategies known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

It is turning out to be almost the perfect summer for flystrike.

Recent high temperatures and humidity have created textbook conditions for flystrike in parts of the country. However, there are steps farmers can take to make sheep as unattractive to flies as possible.

Will Halliday, Beef + Lamb New Zealand's senior advisor biosecurity and animal welfare, says the best and most effective approach to preventing flystrike is to use a combination of strategies also known as Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

Halliday says IPM aims to keep pressure on the pest throughout its lifecycle by using a combination of chemical and non-chemical tools.

"It's about attacking maggots and flies from different angles, at different times."

For example, weekly monitoring for the four blowfly species that cause flystrike (Australian green blowfly, European green blowfly, Brown blowfly and Hairy Maggot blowfly) using small offal-baited fly-traps will detect when these flies are active which can then trigger a management response.

This could include shearing, crutching, dipping and/or moving sheep to higher ground with cooler temperatures and higher wind speed.

During high-risk periods, Halliday says that intensive grazing shoud be avoided if possible and hot-spots on the farm identified and avoided. These could include sheltered, scrubby gullies, patches of thistles, bush lines and the lee of shelter-belts.

He adds that while chemicals play an important role in the prevention and treatment of flystrike, over-reliance can lead to resistance.

"It is important to only use chemicals known to be effective on individual farms and use different chemicals to treat an active flystrike lesion than those used for flystrike prevention."

Halliday points out that the Managing Flystrike and Lice publication - put together by Beef + Lamb NZ, Merino NZ and Sheep and Beef Cattle Veterinarians - explains the lifecycle of pests, helps decipher chemical product labels and applications.

"It is an excellent resource to help farmers put together a management plan for the prevention and treatment of both flystrike and lice."

See the Managing Flystrike and Lice Guide for Farmers factsheet: https://beeflambnz.com/knowledge-hub/PDF/managing-flystrike.pdf

More like this

Perfect conditions for fly and FE

Warm wet weather in many areas of the country creates the perfect conditions for the production-limiting diseases flystrike and facial eczema (FE).

Featured

Massey Research Field Day attracts huge interest

More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.

Boost for hort exports

The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.

National

Winter grazing warning

Every time people from overseas see photographs of cows up to their hocks in mud it's bad for New Zealand.

ANZ defends farm lending rates

The country's largest lender to the agriculture sector says it's not favouring home loans over farm and business lending.

Machinery & Products

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo…

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Review SOEs!

OPINION: NIWA has long weathered complaints about alleged stifling of competition in forecasting, and more recently, claims of lack of…

Bank reset

OPINION: Adding to calls to get banks to 'back off', NZ Agri Brokers director Andrew Laming has revealed that the…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter