Research and Extension Needs for Integrated Pest Management for Arthropods of Veterinary Importance
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Research and Extension Needs for Integrated Pest Management for Arthropods of Veterinary Importance. Proceedings of a Workshop in Lincoln, Nebraska, April 12-14, 1994 Last Updated – October 2001 Christopher J. Geden and Jerome A. Hogsette, Editors Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology USDA-ARS, Gainesville, Florida Contents: Introduction Poultry Dairy Range Beef Cattle Confined Beef Cattle Swine Sheep and Goats Horses Dogs and Cats Introduction In April, 1994, a workshop was held in Lincoln, Nebraska, to update the IPM document that resulted from a similar workshop in Manhattan, Kansas, in 1979 (Anonymous 1979). The workshop was initiated by Dr. Ralph A. Bram, USDA National Program Leader, and organized by Drs. Gustav D. Thomas, USDA-ARS, Lincoln, and John B. Campbell, University of Nebraska, North Platte. Participants were charged with assessing the current status of IPM programs for pests of veterinary importance, identifying needs for program improvements, and recommending future research and extension priorities. Participants, invited from federal and state government research and extension organizations, and the private sector, from the U.S. and Canada, were selected because of their expertise in various sectors of the field of veterinary entomology. IPM needs of eight animal commodity groups were addressed at the Lincoln workshop: 1) poultry; 2) dairy cattle; 3) range beef cattle; 4) confined beef cattle; 5) swine; 6) sheep and goats 7) horses; and 8) dogs and cats. A subcommittee representing each commodity group prepared the chapters contained in the report. Formats vary somewhat from one chapter to another according to the subcommittees' needs, however each chapter contains an overall summary at the beginning, followed by a discussion of the major pests, research and extension needs, and issues pertaining to the animal group. The texts for these chapters were originally prepared in 1995 and updated in 2000-2001. Printing this document. To upload, edit or print this document or its individual sections the best method is to first save the entire document on your hard drive. It can then be opened with MS Word (be sure to select either “all files” or “web pages” under the “files of type” dialogue box at the bottom of the File – Open menu). You can then either save/edit the document as .htm (for uploading to a local server) or save it as a Word or text file for editing/printing. References Anonymous. 1979. Proceedings of a Workshop on Livestock Pest Management: To Assess National Research and Extension Needs for Integrated Pest Management of Insects, Ticks, and Mites Affecting Livestock and Poultry, March 5 7, 1979, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas. USDA, 322pp. POULTRY SUMMARY Poultry is a rapidly growing component of the agricultural economy of the United States ($15 billion/year) and the world, with sales in some areas exceeding the combined value of all other agricultural commodities. Broiler production has led the industry, with a doubling of production in the last 20 years. A significant portion of this new production goes to export markets, and this trend is expected to accelerate well into the next century as NAFTA and GATT expand the market for US poultry products. Although the poultry industry continues to be plagued by numerous arthropod and rodent pests, the number of research and extension personnel needed to develop pest management programs has declined during the last 10 years. More than ever it is essential for industry, state, and federal entomologists to work together to solve arthropod pest problems affecting American agriculture. This committee identified the following critical areas of research and extension needs for poultry IPM: 1. Cultural control, especially manure management, must be emphasized as the first line of defense against pest species of flies. Research is needed to determine facility design features and manure handling methods that limit the availability and suitability of manure for flies. 2. In the past 15 years litter beetles, especially the lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus), have emerged from obscurity to become the most serious pest affecting several types of poultry production systems. There is an urgent need to develop effective monitoring and management programs for these pests. 3. Biological control remains an uncertain pest management tool. Practical research is needed to develop biocontrol into an essential component of IPM programs for flies and litter beetles. 4. A renewed effort is needed to study nutrition, ecology and behavior of house flies and Fannia spp. in the field, especially appetitive orientation and dispersal behaviors. 5. High levels of insecticide resistance in house fly populations have made it increasingly difficult to control outbreak populations of this pest. There continues to be a need for novel chemical and biological insecticides that are compatible with other fly management strategies. 6. Rodents are serious pests in most poultry production systems and need to be included in overall pest management programs for the industry. 7. Research is needed to determine the efficacy of currently available pesticides and application methods against external parasites of poultry and, if possible, to discover non- chemical control methods. 8. Extension resources for program delivery have declined to critically low levels, and extension specialists are required to cover many more areas of responsibility than in the past. University researchers, Cooperative Extension, ARS, and industry representatives should work together as a national consortium to share information. An electronic data base and web site on the Internet would greatly facilitate this process. Arthropod pest management does not occur in a vacuum, and IPM recommendations must be compatible with other management considerations such as flock health, nutrition, housing design, and the economics of production. In addressing these critical needs, entomologists should work with poultry scientists, agribusiness representatives, veterinarians, economists, agricultural engineers, rodent control specialists and others to ensure that research remains grounded in the practical needs of agriculture in the 21st century. POULTRY Committee Members Christopher J. Geden (Co-chair) James J. Arends, (Co-chair) Richard C. Axtell Donald R. Barnard Douglas M. Gaydon Leslie A. Hickle Jerome A. Hogsette William F. Jones Bradley A. Mullens Maxcy P. Nolan, Jr. Maxcy P. Nolan, III James J. Petersen D. Craig Sheppard Economic Significance of Poultry In 1992 the farm value of principal components of the poultry industry was about $15 billion. Production of broilers and turkeys has increased dramatically in the last 20 years, reflecting a change in the eating habits of many Americans and an expanding export market (Table 1). Egg production has remained stable, with a decrease in per capita consumption of shell eggs (305/ year in 1972 to 235/year in 1992) largely offset by increases in demand for exports and for further processing. Other poultry commodities such as ducks and rattites represent small but economically robust components of the industry. Broiler and turkey production has rapidly moved to a vertically integrated industry structure where the farmer provides land, labor and housing for an integrator, who provides birds, feed, animal health care and marketing of the final product. Egg production has shifted away from small independent producers towards larger agribusinesses with corporate structures that vary from one part of the country to another. The broiler industry continues to be concentrated in the southeastern US; the layer industry in California and midwestern and southern states; and the turkey industry in the Southeast and Midwest (Table 2). The broiler industry is expected to continue its expansion in the coming decade, with a significant portion of that expansion driven by exports. Table 1. Poultry and Egg Production in the United States, 1972-1992. Product Production (millions) Percent change 1972 1982 1997 '72- '82- '72- '82 '97 '97 Broilers No. 3,075 4,149 7,764 34.9 87.1 152.5 produced Farm $1,623 $4,502 $14,149 177.5 214.3 771.8 value . Turkeys No. 129 166 301 28.6 81.3 133.3 produced Farm $537 $1,225 $2,884 133.7 135.4 437.1 value . Eggs No. 69,219 69,718 77,532 0.07 11.2 12.0 produced Farm $1,781 $3,459 $4,540 94.2 31.2 154.9 value . Total Farm value $3,900 $9,200 $21,600 135.9 134.8 453.8 Table 2. Ranking of states in broiler, layer, and turkey production. Rank Broilers Turkeys Layers 1982 1997 1982 1997 1987 1997 1 AR GA NC NC CA OH 2 GA AR MN MN GA CA 3 AL AL CA AR AR PA 4 NC MS AR VA PA IN 5 MS NC MO CA IN IA 6 MD TX VA MO TX GA 7 CA MD IA IN AL TX 8 TX VA IN PA NC AR 9 DE DE PA SC NY MN 10 VA MO - - OH NC Pests of Poultry Production The committee considered the following poultry pests: House flies (Musca domestica and Fannia spp.) Litter beetles (Alphitobius, Dermestes, others) Northern fowl mite (Ornithonyssus sylviarum) Rodents Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) Red Mite (Dermanyssus gallinae) Black flies and biting midges Lice (especially Menacanthus ) Mosquitoes Turkey chigger (Neoschoengastia americana) Sticktight fleas (Echidnophaga gallinacea) Fowl ticks (Argus persicus) The focus of the remainder of this report will be on the three pests that the committee identified as having the largest impact on the industry under the widest range of geographic and management conditions: house flies, litter beetles and the northern fowl mite. Although rodents are serious pests of the industry and need to be addressed in overall IPM programs, the committee felt that it lacked sufficient expertise in this area to make specific recommendations on rodent research. House Flies Description and Biology. Several species of muscoid flies are pests on or around poultry operations. The most important pests develop primarily in accumulated manure and include the house fly, Musca domestica, and the little house fly, Fannia canicularis.