BUSINESS OF FARMING
BY KEN KELLEY
The Economic Importance of Pests on Cattle Ken Kelley, Kelly Palmer and Max Runge The importance of controlling pests on livestock can be easily observed by anyone on any given day in any (untreated) cattle pasture in Alabama. There are pests all around, both observable and unseen, doing what they do best to cattle – pestering them. Tails flick and cattle move about restlessly as literally hundreds of flies congregate on them. The most unobservant observer would see that the annoyance factor alone dictates something must be done. However, it goes beyond simply annoying – pests on livestock (cattle in this example) can be detrimental to production of cattle and to the economic viability of many producers‘ operations. August 2020
13
