Top Four Ways Flies Impact Agricultural Operations
Flies on farms are more than a nuisance. They can seriously impact the productivity and bottom line of an operation without an effective fly control strategy in place. To understand the importance of fly control on farms, consider the top four ways flies can impact an agricultural operation:
Animal Health
It is important to manage diseases spread by flies by using various fly traps, fly baits, and on-animal treatments to control fly populations on farms. For example, with flies on dairy operations, the main concern is house flies, stable flies, face flies, and horn flies. These pests transmit more than 65 disease-causing organisms and can contribute to salmonella, mastitis, and pinkeye among your cattle.
Animal Productivity
When proper fly control isn’t in place, your animals can become stressed and uncomfortable, ultimately lowering overall productivity and profitability. Adding stress to your animals can limit weight gain or loss, lower milk production, and cause animals to expend additional energy fighting off flies. By having a strategic rotation plan with Starbar fly control products, you can keep your animals healthier, comfortable, and stress-free from nuisance flies.
Employee and Resident Comfort
Fly infestations on farms also significantly impact employees and residents by creating unmanageable work and living environments. Flies can lower employee productivity and can contribute to staff illnesses. In addition to reducing productivity, flies can also make your employees uncomfortable at work, decreasing their overall satisfaction in the workplace and potentially lead to greater employee turnover on farms. For farmers living in close proximity to livestock, unchecked fly populations can become a nuisance in and around the home as well.
Impact on Neighbors
It is essential to learn what products to use to manage disease-spreading fly populations on, in, or around your operations to protect your operation and neighboring properties. When fly infestations migrate to neighboring properties, it can cause annoyance, nuisance complaints, and potential lawsuits. Diseases and illnesses from flies can spread to neighboring operations, which will increase the overall treatment costs for producers.
Protect your livestock, employees, and neighboring communities by implementing proper fly control with the use of fly baits, such as QuikStrike® Fly Bait, Cyanarox® Insecticidal Bait, and Golden Malrin® Fly Bait from Starbar!
