Summer Flies

Summertime brings the bugs to your farm. Here are three common fly species that impact cattle and other livestock, and how you can work to control them.

- ANNA O'BRIEN

With summer in full swing, fighting insects at the farm can feel like a full-time job. Let’s take a closer look at three common species of flies that impact our cattle and other livestock.

STABLE FLY

Just a bit smaller than the house fly, the stable fly is a ubiquitous pest in the summer. Congregating along an animal’s back, legs, sides and belly, these flies (in contrast to the horn fly, see below) only take on average one blood meal a day. But the bite is painful and causes distress.

HORN FLY

The horn fly is a surprisingly small insect (the adult is only 3 to 5 millimeters), so it’s not the size but rather the number of these flies that causes problems. Clustering in large groups that can number in the hundreds, these flies will sit on the backs, withers and sides of cattle and pierce the skin to feed on blood.

These flies are tenacious feeders, too, taking upwards of 20 to 30 bites per fly a day.