Farm & Ranch
Out for Blood: The horse fly is a major pest – and a major pain to control
There are few guarantees in life, but one guarantee is inescapable: if you have livestock, you have flies.
One of the best known of these pests is the largest, the bloodsucking horse fly. It is also one of the most difficult to manage, according to entomologist Dr. Sonja Swiger with the Texas A&M Research & Extension Center in Stephenville.
“Horse flies are hard to control,” she says. “They are only on the host long enough to take a blood meal and then they leave.”
When most people mention “horse fly” they think of the big black flies with huge eyes that look like rainbows on an oil slick when the light hits them just right. This horse fly is actually part of a large family, the Tabanidae, which includes both horse and deer flies, and like their distant cousins the mosquito, only the females are bloodsuckers.
A study by now retired Texas A&M entomologist Bart Drees and James Goodwin identified 109 distinct species of horse and deer flies in Texas alone, compared with about 350 species known in North America and 4,500 known worldwide. According to Dr. Swiger, some of these are very specific and localized, while others have evolved to take advantage of large herd animals; though, as many people have painfully learned, horse flies can be fairly opportunistic biters. To read more pick up the February issue of North Texas Farm & Ranch.
By Heather Welper
Husband and wife duo, Heather and Calvin Welper, are the Co-Owners and Operators or Two C Livestock, located in Valley View, Texas.
The pair’s operation has a show cattle focus where they raise and sell purebred heifers of all breeds and club calf Hereford steers.
When it comes to show cattle, the Welpers know a thing or two including how to prepare for the cold winter months and the Texas major show season run.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Hannah Claxton, Editor
As the sun rises each day, so do the dozens of mouths that Meghan McGovern is responsible for getting fed. Rather than the sounds of a rooster crowing, McGovern hears the bellows and bleats of a variety of exotic deer, the chortle of kangaroos, the grunts of water buffaloes, and the chirps of a lemur.
Nestled against the banks of the Red River, the Double M Ranch and Rescue, with its high game fences and deer sprinkling the landscape,s its in stark contrast to the surrounding ranches.
“Having deer is kind of like eating potato chips- you can never actually have just one,” said McGovern with a laugh.
McGovern has several herds to take care of- fallow deer, axis deer, water buffalo, goats, and bison. In smaller numbers, there’s also a few kangaroos, a lemur, a potbelly pig, a pair of zebras, a watusi, and a few horses.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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