Just in time for all the bucks in velvet and baby fawns. Hope this doesn't get as bad as it was in the 60/70's.
Cattle futures taking a pretty good hit.
Cattle futures taking a pretty good hit.
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Screwworm is here...
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Last: 34 min ago by drred4
I know this will be an unpopular opinion but I hope it knocks back the deer population. Damn overgrown rodents are just pests and cause so much damage to crops. Hopefully people can keep it out of their cattle.
Respectfully, GTFO of here with this opinion. I have spent the last 6 years battling mountain lions, aoudad, probably anthrax, and god knows what else to get our deer herd back to where it should be and we are just now starting to show hope. Now we have to potentially deal with this…spieg12 said:
I know this will be an unpopular opinion but I hope it knocks back the deer population. Damn overgrown rodents are just pests and cause so much damage to crops. Hopefully people can keep it out of their cattle.
This could devastate all wildlife if it is not contained quickly. Have been watching this since discovered and it keeps moving up into our area. Livestock, pets and wildlife will all be in danger until it is halted. Hopefully soon. I know all of the cattlemen around me are worried and they are holding seminars regarding the issue.
I was not trying to upset anyone. I hope your area is unaffected. It sounds like your area does not have near the population that I am accustomed to seeing. Around here they are so thick that they will easily mow down 40 acres of wheat to the ground. They are way too thick here.
That problem can be quickly solved by bullets. You can't quickly or easily solve a die off…
spieg12 said:
I was not trying to upset anyone. I hope your area is unaffected. It sounds like your area does not have near the population that I am accustomed to seeing. Around here they are so thick that they will easily mow down 40 acres of wheat to the ground. They are way too thick here.
You are out of your depth here. This isn't going to take care of your nuicance deer population, its going to kill A LOT of animals of a lot of different species if we don't get a handle on this. Now.
spieg12 said:
I know this will be an unpopular opinion but I hope it knocks back the deer population. Damn overgrown rodents are just pests and cause so much damage to crops. Hopefully people can keep it out of their cattle.
Wow! Just wow?
I took spieg12's comments as a post made mostly in jest that just landed flat. I don't suspect he is really hoping for a full-blown screwworm infestation.
There is just has a lot of us on the edge a little. I know when I went and checked baby calves this morning, I was much more diligent than usual with looking over navel cords, eyes, and backsides.
I've heard way too many horror stories from my dad about the work it took to handle screwworms back in the 60's and 70's. I'm not sure modern-day producers have the manpower or fortitude to do what those guys did back then.
Hopefully we can get this thing under control quickly.
There is just has a lot of us on the edge a little. I know when I went and checked baby calves this morning, I was much more diligent than usual with looking over navel cords, eyes, and backsides.
I've heard way too many horror stories from my dad about the work it took to handle screwworms back in the 60's and 70's. I'm not sure modern-day producers have the manpower or fortitude to do what those guys did back then.
Hopefully we can get this thing under control quickly.
96ags said:
I took spieg12's comments as a post made mostly in jest that just landed flat. I don't suspect he is really hoping for a full-blown screwworm infestation.
There is just has a lot of us on the edge a little. I know when I went and checked baby calves this morning, I was much more diligent than usual with looking over navel cords, eyes, and backsides.
I've heard way too many horror stories from my dad about the work it took to handle screwworms back in the 60's and 70's. I'm not sure modern-day producers have the manpower or fortitude to do what those guys did back then.
Hopefully we can get this thing under control quickly.
Yes and I'm sorry if some people took it the wrong way. I too heard many stories from older folks about how bad it was the first time around. I don't wish that on anyone. I'm just grumpy about all the deer around lol. Hopefully once USDA gets all of its sterile fly production fully ramped up it will be enough to curb them.
spieg12 said:96ags said:
I took spieg12's comments as a post made mostly in jest that just landed flat. I don't suspect he is really hoping for a full-blown screwworm infestation.
There is just has a lot of us on the edge a little. I know when I went and checked baby calves this morning, I was much more diligent than usual with looking over navel cords, eyes, and backsides.
I've heard way too many horror stories from my dad about the work it took to handle screwworms back in the 60's and 70's. I'm not sure modern-day producers have the manpower or fortitude to do what those guys did back then.
Hopefully we can get this thing under control quickly.
Yes and I'm sorry if some people took it the wrong way. I too heard many stories from older folks about how bad it was the first time around. I don't wish that on anyone. I'm just grumpy about all the deer around lol. Hopefully once USDA gets all of its sterile fly production fully ramped up it will be enough to curb them.
You're in a room full of people that can come help with your deer over population.
Yep this is the OB and we are hunters and game managers. The deer were around long before you planted wheat. They go to where the easy food is. You can put up a high fence around your wheat field and your problem is solved. They are concentrated in those fields and the actual population (deer/acre) in your county is probably like everywhere else. If a great restaurant in your town with great food had "free food night" everybody in town would be there too.
TAMU Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
Boat racing is like a beautiful woman.......expensive, high maintenance, but well worth the fun!
Boat racing is like a beautiful woman.......expensive, high maintenance, but well worth the fun!
I'm hoping they avoid my cows and go straight for the wild hogs.
You should delete this, because if you said this in the company of beef producers, like those in my family, you would spark a rather feisty reply.
spieg12 said:
I was not trying to upset anyone. I hope your area is unaffected. It sounds like your area does not have near the population that I am accustomed to seeing. Around here they are so thick that they will easily mow down 40 acres of wheat to the ground. They are way too thick here.
Have you offered youth hunts? Do a good deed and thin population to help yourself
Just in the context of wishing what on whom, wheat production in texas produces about $440 million in revenue. Cattle production produces about $13.4 billion in revenue. These numbers come from the USDA. Deer hunting adds about $9.6 billion in economic value including landowners, hunters, and merchants. This comes from Texas A&M. Just saying.
Does anybody know the timeline on the sterile fly production facilities being fully online?
Ticks on cattle have just become a problem this year in the last two weeks on our Houston area ranch. The above calf has a bent ear, indicating numerous ticks on the tip. Currently waiting on a few days of dry weather to pen the different pastures and spray All of the cattle. They will All have a wound in the ears which will heal after spraying and killing the ticks. These cattle would all be susceptible to the screwworm today if it was already in our area. An umbilical cord on a newborn and Any wound are where the larvae are laid by the fly.
We will treat all animals every 30 days or so going forward, and keep out the insecticide soaked back rubbers. No problem for us with open pastures and being there. Friends and relatives have brush/hill country ranches where they only pen cattle twice a year or so and checking routinely isn't practical. These will be the animals sold off first if the screwworm becomes widespread. Cattle numbers will further decline, as seen by today's price increase.
Needless to say the deer and all other wild animals will also have ticks and be susceptible for that reason alone. Pen raised animals and domestic ones can be treated but the wild are dependent on a successful sterile fly program.
Is there any supplemental feed to help prevent an outbreak for whitetail?
I don't think there is any medicated wildlife feed approved yet. We need a noromectin/ivermectin laced feed to be approved, pretty much like the medicated quail feed, QuailGuard, but for ruminants.
Dirty-8-thirty Ag said:
Does anybody know the timeline on the sterile fly production facilities being fully online?
Production facility and dispersal facility info is at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/stop-screwworm/sterile-fly-production-dispersal-facilities
Currently, 100 million sterile flies are dispersed each week in Mexico and Texas.
Gig 'em! '90
spieg12 said:
I know this will be an unpopular opinion but I hope it knocks back the deer population. Damn overgrown rodents are just pests and cause so much damage to crops. Hopefully people can keep it out of their cattle.
If only depredation permits existed…
jejdag said:
I'm hoping they avoid my cows and go straight for the wild hogs.
https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/new-world-screwworm
take as many preventative steps as possible
Serious question.
Would Golden Malarin work on this type of fly? I know its on label method is for flies around horses.
(We don't need to go into its off label usage)
Was wondering if that would help at all.
Would Golden Malarin work on this type of fly? I know its on label method is for flies around horses.
(We don't need to go into its off label usage)
Was wondering if that would help at all.
Dispersing sterile fliesa method known as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT)works by exploiting the mating habits of pest populations, such as the New World Screwworm. By mass-releasing sterile males into the wild, they outnumber fertile males and mate with wild females. Because these females generally mate only once in their lives, any mating with a sterile male results in unfertilized eggs that never hatch, gradually collapsing the pest population over successive generations.
This environmentally friendly approach drives eradication through the following steps:
This environmentally friendly approach drives eradication through the following steps:
- Mass-Sterilization: Millions of flies (such as those produced at the USDA APHIS Sterile Fly Production and Dispersal Facilities) are sterilized in laboratories using safe, controlled radiation.
- Overwhelming the Wild Population: Air or ground-dispersal teams release these sterile flies over infested areas in overwhelming ratiosoften aiming for 10 sterile flies to every 1 wild fly.
- Breaking the Breeding Cycle: Because the sterile males heavily outcompete wild males for mates, the vast majority of wild females mate with a sterile male. The females lay eggs that do not hatch, preventing the next generation from being born.
- Creating Buffer Zones: The strategy is often used in border regions (like southern Texas and Mexico) to establish "sterile zones," ensuring any migrating wild pests are neutralized before they can establish new breeding colonies.
Lyssy & Eckel Feeds, a Texas-based livestock feed manufacturer, actively petitioned the FDA for emergency approval to include ivermectin as a dry premix in supplemental livestock and wildlife feeds
I think was may of 2025 they petitioned this. I wish they would do this
I think was may of 2025 they petitioned this. I wish they would do this
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