Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is visiting with the director of sales and feed additives at Central Life Sciences, Paul Kropp, about Altosid® IGR fly control.
“We consider it the gold standard of feed-through fly control,” Kropp said. “There are a lot of different options that we have out there for trying to control flies. Altosid has been around for a number of years and really does an outstanding job in a very user-friendly way of controlling horn fly infestation in our pasture cattle.”
Altosid® has a unique approach, Kropp said, because it is passed through the animal into manure, where it breaks the life cycle of horn flies to prevent adults from emerging.
By breaking the fly lifecycle in the manure, Kropp said the horn fly infestation is kept to a minimum.
“We will never be fly-free,” Kropp said. “That is the one thing to kind of keep in mind. I don’t care which product that you use, but their data will support that we can keep that horn fly population below 200 flies per-animal, then they are going to have a great chance of success to reach their genetic potential and flourish.”
A study conducted by Oklahoma State University confirmed that cattle treated with Altosid® IGR experienced a 15.8% increase in average daily weight gains compared to untreated cattle. This represents a potential return on investment as high as 13:1 with Altosid® IGR, now priced at 2 to 3 cents per animal, per day.
“The great thing about Altosid® is the return on investment,” Kropp said.
Horn flies are the root of many different problems in the cow herd, Kropp said, so keeping that population down is going to reduce stress, reduce blood loss, and allow those cattle to be more comfortable as they convert forage into meat or milk.
“Now is the time,” Kropp said. “We definitely want to get this product out before flies begin to emerge.”
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR for today’s show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
