Southern Region Project S-274
Integrated Management of Arthropod Pests of Livestock and Poultry

Justification

Arthropod pests pose a threat to the productivity, health, and well being of livestock and poultry. The need for regional cooperative research on management of these pests is more acute now than ever because of the economic importance of the commodities, the narrow profit margin in animal agriculture, increasing production costs, and losses inflicted by arthropod pests. This need is further amplified by the decline in numbers of livestock insect research and extension personnel in CSREES, and ARS. This is the first national project proposal to coordinate research on arthropods important to animal agriculture. This coordination will allow commonality of purpose toward an integrative approach and ethic in livestock insect management.

The need for developing new non-insecticide pest management strategies is magnified by the loss of many pesticides formerly used in animal agriculture and by the decreased pesticide development efforts by industry and an increase in arthropod pest resistance to the few remaining pesticides. The problem is further compounded by the fact that the expanding urban inhabitants have the perception that filth flies originate only on livestock and poultry farms, when in fact stable flies and house flies frequently develop in urban habitats (Broce, 1993).

Environmental and safe-food concerns by the public have triggered new and more stringent regulations by the EPA and FDA. These regulations have increased the cost of research with animals, already high when compared to crops, to the point that animal health companies are reluctant to spend the funds necessary to re-register older insecticides, particularly those for which patent rights have expired. Neither are they willing to invest resources needed to develop new insecticides for livestock pest control unless they feel the product will have broad-spectrum usage and will by widely accepted. Companies are also concerned that the use of their product does not result in rapid development of arthropod resistance. Because of these constraints, the additional pressure which will be placed on the remaining pesticides will lead to increased pesticide resistance and subsequent product failure. Therefore, the future of sustainable animal production systems requires research which promotes the development of pest management systems that do not rely solely on pesticides to prevent damage by arthropod pest populations.