 Manure is among the fly’s most
sought after food sources, and because industrial farms are
major producers of manure, flies can become a significant
problem on and around large livestock facilities. When a
fly lands to feed, it spreads bacteria from whatever it feeds
off onto whatever it lands on next. As a result, these
flies can be a source of disease transmission on large-scale
industrial farming operations. However, they are not only a
nuisance and health threat to the animals on industrial farms,
but to surrounding communities and
residents as well.
Flies typically travel one to two miles during their
lifespan, although some species can travel ten miles or more
when they invade neighboring communities en masse.i
For example, just a few weeks after an industrial farm opened in
Hartford, Michigan, in August 2004, flies invaded nearby homes
and businesses, covering walls and doors in such great numbers
that it was impossible to go in or out of buildings without
bringing the swarms inside.ii
Human and Animal Health
These sorts of infestations are more than a nuisance-- they
present serious threats to human and animal health. Flies can
spread a host of dangerous diseases to humans, including polio,
tuberculosis, anthrax, leprosy, cholera, typhoid fever,
conjunctivitis, salmonella, and dysentery. They can also help
spread dangerous parasites like cryptosporidium parvum,
tapeworms and roundworms.iii
Some species, such as stable flies, cause cows serious
pain and can also physically weaken them. Stable flies have
piercing, sucking mouth parts that they inject into a
cow’s skin in order to feed on its blood. Stable fly bites
make cows stomp continuously in agony to shake off the
parasites, and the pain and stress of the bites lead to cow
weight loss and reduced productivity.iv
Stable flies also cause significant problems at hog
farms. Hog breeding farms are often extremely
confined and set up over a system of slats so that the manure
simply falls through the floor and accumulates. This is
the perfect breeding ground for flies. Stable flies, along
with house flies, are typically found in large numbers at swine
facilities and have been known to transmit hog cholera, as a
well as a multitude of other diseases. v
Flies not only carry diseases between animals on a single
farm, but have been known to travel and infect animals at other
farms as well. According to a 1998 survey, the area
surrounding a 100,000-hen egg facility in Vermont was completely
infested with flies. In particular, neighboring farmers
reported that the flies were spreading mastitis (a severe udder
infection) among their cows, as well as increasing the
animals’ stress and decreasing their milk production. vi
Control Methods
Controlling the fly populations on any kind of farm is
difficult—but it is even more so on industrial farms. A
report by the University of Nebraska's Institute of Agriculture
and Natural Resources states that fly infestation on dairies can
be prevented through a combination of "sanitation, cultural
practices, and judicious use of insecticides." More
specifically, the report recommends keeping clean the major
fly-producing sections of feedlots, such as the area behind the
feeding pens, the bedding of animal sick pens, and the feed
storage areas-- a nearly impossible task on an industrial
farm with hundreds or even thousands of head of cattle. vii
Sustainable Solutions
In the long term, what is really needed is a shift in thinking
about how our food is produced. Rather than viewing large fly
infestations as an inevitable problem, agribusiness should begin to think
of them as a symptom and a warning sign that the current methods
of industrial farming are flawed and unsustainable.
Sustainable farmers make it their business to understand
the ecosystem and natural cycles in which they operate. These
farms keep their barns clean, and also employ other natural
controls (such as the use of a certain type of wasp that eats
fly eggs) to keep fly populations down. By working with nature,
rather than against it, they spare themselves, their animals,
and their communities, unnecessary pests and health threats.
What You Can Do
- If you live near a factory farm
where flies are a problem, remember that you are not alone.
Talk to your neighbors, local government, and zoning board
members, and ask them to share their experiences. Many
homeowners have found that flies, as well as rats, vultures,
and other unwanted pests from nearby industrial farms have
reduced the value of their property. Some community groups have
even successfully sued factory farms under what are known as
“nuisance laws.
- Buy sustainable
The best way to limit risks posed by the massive fly
infestations so common to industrial farms is to support
sustainable, organic, and local alternatives, such as
farmers’ markets, small-scale family farms and
community-supported agriculture. See Sustainable Table’s
Shop
Sustainable section to find out how and where to shop.
- Get to know your local farmer.
Enter your zip code into the Eat
Well Guide to find a farmer close to you, so that you can begin
supporting local, sustainable agriculture.
Did You Know?
- Pasture-raised cows are better
equipped to deal with flies because they are free to move away
from them, as well as swat them with their tails, unlike
factory-farmed cows, whose tails are often docked (cut off).
- Sanitation is thought to be roughly
75% of the work towards maintaining the fly population on
farms, and therefore is more effective than the use of
pesticides. viii
- A female house fly lays up to 200
eggs every 3-4 days! ix
For More Information
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