Controlling flies on intensive livestock farms

Most are just an annoyance to stock and workers but those that bite can irritate animals such that production may be affected.

Primarily however, the presence of large number of flies can irritate farm workers, affect produce, cause neighbours to complain and affect the reputation of the farm, so good farm management must include fly control.

Some level of fly infestation is inevitable when animals are farmed intensively but pest numbers of flies usually indicate a failure is one or several key areas of farm management.

Topics include:

• Major pests
• Minor or occasional pests
• Principles of fly control
• Biological control
• Use of insecticides