Last week, this column reviewed the value of early season fly control. Please recall that I mentioned that for each fly you kill at this time, you might prevent up to 25,000 flies by July 1.

The following is an accounting of an unfortunate, and quite possibly an unnecessary experience in west central Ohio.

A few years ago, an Extension counterpart and I were contacted about a neighborhood fly problem that sourced high fly numbers from several locations.  As we walked the farms with their owners, we noticed high fly breeding areas not recognized by the farmers themselves.  Though obvious fly friendly situations to us, the individuals involved with the day -to-day the operations did not realize the presence of huge numbers of eggs, larvae, pupae and adults.

Both farms were relatively attractive to someone who might drive by.  At the first livestock operation, we saw a mortality composting bin behind the buildings that just did not have enough sawdust on hand to properly work the process.  An exposed carcass and mixed rotting material supplied significant odor. Consequently, a ready source of food supply was helping generate large numbers of flies.  Spilled feed under the feed bins also needed attention.  When such spills are soaked with rainfall, flies are attracted for feeding and reproduction opportunities. 

The swine finishing barns themselves may have been contributing to the fly supply due to crusted areas in the manure pit below the feeders, but we did not believe it to be the most important challenge.

Another source of fly breeding was small in size, but obvious to anyone stopping by.  The kids raised rabbit cage hovered directly over manure droppings that were teeming with flies.
Needless to say, we advised the farmer to limit all conditions attractive to fly feeding and breeding; in other words improve his sanitation practices.

Then, we drove down the road to a dairy heifer facility, which was also suspected of hosting nuisance flies. Several fly breeding challenges stood out to us, the invited Extension “fly patrol”.  Spilled silage rotting next to the feed conveyor appeared to be a favorite feeding site of thousands of flies.  Routine cleanup of the area was recommended.

Walking through the concreted feeding floor adjacent to the barn, we kicked apart manure built up under a gate partition. Hundreds if not more creamy white fly larvae literally rolled out of the decaying organic matter, less than two weeks from flight had they not been disturbed. Walkways trafficked by the heifers had no such concentrations of larvae, but areas under raised gates and along walls are protected from the cattle hooves. Our advice: regular removal of manure buildup in protected areas.

The last area of the heifer farm that needed attention was the roof gutter or spouting.  A healthy growth of weeds within several areas of the spouting pretty much insured that rain from the roof was going to end up on the concrete feeding area, running off eventually to a grassy area just beyond the feedlot. As we approached that soggy grassed location, we could actually hear the hum of tens of thousands of flies buzzing. While the grassy area did a great job of stopping further movement of the feedlot manure, some of that decaying material was home to an extraordinary number of flies. We suggested cleaning of the roof spouting to limit roof water reaching the feedlot floor.

We likely did not address every fly generating issue in that area. However, several weeks later, we were informed by neighbors and the farmers themselves that the fly problem had improved dramatically since our farm visit.  All were appreciative of the results.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Roger Bender may write to him in care of this publication.