On the back of late spring and early summer storms, fly pressure has noticeably increased and will likely set in for the rest of summer. At the same time, increasing reports of resistance have resulted in shorter protection periods for chemical control.
Key Points
- Flies play a major role in spreading pinkeye
- FlyBye ingredient results in 47% reduction in fly cover on beef cattle in trial
- ANP dairy clients positive reports about FlyBye after using the ingredients for two years
- Breakthrough for FlyBye in launch of BoviPro FlyBye: Dry Feed Supplement for Cattle with Fly Control
Pinkeye outbreaks tend to flare-up over the warmer months, as grass seeds, dust and flies play their part in aggravating and spreading the disease. Flies are attracted to the infected eyes, feeding on the secretions before moving from animal to animal spreading the disease. As a result, cattle producers may need to pull out all the tricks in their bag to break the chain and manage nuisance flies this summer.
Ongoing research and trials over the past four years culminated in the creation of FlyBye, a specifically formulated combination of several organic and inorganic ingredients, that when ingested, circulate within the blood and, on excretion from the skin, have been shown to repel flies in cattle. A study involving one of the individual components of FlyBye saw a reduction of pest-fly coverage on beef cattle by 47% and a reduction of observed defensive behaviours by cattle of 41% (Durunna and Lardner, 2021).
Similarly, reports from early use of some of the ingredients within FlyBye in northern Australian cattle have been encouraging, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that fly and tick pressure has decreased since adopting the technology.
Local success in dairy herds
At a local level, for the past two years FlyBye has been included in many for AusFarm Nutrition Products’ dairy client’s diets during the warmer months, with all reporting noticeable decreases in fly cover on cattle and defensive behaviours by cattle before and during milking.
What about beef cattle?
The release of AusFarm Nutrition Products’ Bovi range of loose-lick supplements for cattle has been quite timely, as it has proven to be an effective carrier for FlyBye by delivering the recommended dose on a consistent basis to deliver results.
FlyBye has been successfully trialled and is currently available as an additional extra in BoviPro: Dry Feed Supplement for Cattle, BoviGP: General Purpose Supplement for Cattle and BoviBloat Plus: Dual Action Bloat Control Supplement for Cattle. These products are referred to as BoviPro FlyBye, BoviGP FlyBye and BoviBloat Plus FlyBye, and are available now from your local farm retail store.
Talk to the team at AusFarm Nutrition Products and get on the front foot against flies in your operation this summer.
