Working With Nature, Not Against It

June is one of my favorite months. The grass is in full-blown growth mode, the cattle are gaining well, and this year in particular, we've had so much rain this spring that everything is a vibrant green. The grass is especially outstanding a few weeks behind the chicken moves, but that’s next week’s topic!

But this week, dragonflies. Yes, you read that right.

Just when I’m about to stress out that I have to do something for the cattle because the flies are getting so bad, here come the dragonflies. They just appear one day, thousands in the air (extremely difficult to video - I did try!), and they knock the flies way back. It’s a relief for the cattle, the sheep, even the dogs, and me.

Flies are pesky and can be downright dangerous for animal health. They’re one of the spreaders of pinkeye, a frustrating condition in cattle that is painful and can cause temporary blindness, and in extreme cases, permanent loss of vision. Not to mention, they cause so much discomfort that the cattle may walk off all their weight gain trying to escape the biting and buzzing.

Moving cows to fresh pasture this morning and keeping the flies at bay.

Dragonflies are really amazing hunters. Look them up to see how beneficial they can be for mosquito control and other small insects like midges and flies. You might want to try attracting some to your yard! 

Besides relying on dragonflies for fly control, we also use fly predators, which are tiny parasitic wasps that kill and eat flies before they hatch. No, they don’t sting people. I get them in packets of 15,000. Don’t ask me how they count them; I’ve never actually double-checked the total!

When they start to hatch in the package, I take them out and spread them. Time to think like a fly laying eggs but where is a good place to raise your fly babies? Manure and damp areas are prime spots. I put some near each brooder (not in with the chicks, who would probably love to eat my tiny fly parasites), some at the barn, some near the greywater drain, and some at the compost pile. If I have extras, I bring them to neighbors with livestock, since flies can travel a few miles, and I also place some near the cattle. We get a new shipment by mail every couple of weeks during fly season to help keep the population in check.

So, if you’ve ever wondered about fly control on a farm that strives to work with nature, not against it, now you know. We rely heavily on beneficial insects. Thank a dragonfly next time you see one for helping out, and thank you for supporting farmers like us!

Farmer Andrea,
Falling Sky Farm, Arkansas