Check out our new livestock fly control experiment.

Check out our new livestock fly control experiment. We are releasing parasitic wasps into the manure every 7 days right behind our cow mob. The wasps consume the fly larvae that is deposited into our cow manure by mature flies. This will be an interesting experiment to see how much it reduces fly populations in our cow herd. Stay tuned!! My new book is going to the printers next week. If you want to be notified when my new book is available go to this link: eepurl.com/htT0kj

[@joelbovaird5152]

Had a vet tell me when I was about 10 and he pulled a calf that didn't make it. I was a soft hearted little guy and started to tear up. He got down to my eye level and looked at me and said, If you have any kind of animals, there are two rules. Rule #1, If you animals, your going to lose one every now and then. He paused and I asked what rule number two was, he said no matter what you do, there's no changing rule #1

[@brianpeterson510]

Excited by the wasp experiment. Thanks for sharing Greg

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

You bet!

[@amandar7719]

Lovely to see the calves running and skipping, and the devoted mommas.

[@valeriestevens5250]

Also, it's fun to see the expression on the faces of the folks at the Post Office when I come in and ask for my wasps! Priceless.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Love it!

[@mountainviewfarm8304]

i used them for awhile didn't really see a difefrence so please keep us posted

[@DocMudd]

Also we've used hose parasitic wasp for years. They work great!

[@pamanderson1417]

We use these successfully with horses. It is important to start early, after last hard freeze but before flies appear in the spring. We get double shipments once a year and order an extra double shipment if we have a stretch of hot, humid, wet weather. For 3 horses and 20 chickens, our cost is about $160 per year for the fly parasites. We receive shipments every 3 weeks during the grazing season. I will be interested to hear how this works for ypu, Greg!

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

I will keep you updated on this project.

[@stephaniebohn9002]

I love watching and hearing your cattle. Your sharing of the work you do is educational.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Thank you very much!

[@bighill6633]

Love the no nonsense. Saves a lot of frustration.

[@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754]

Definitely keep us posted.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We will

[@mato1875]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher been using the wasps for years now. Works great. Hugo, Colorado

[@galesauer9145]

Beautiful herd. Old farm lady knows good cows n perfect calves . Thank for showing cows land and spring. I can smell it all from memory 50 years ago. Gale in WV.

[@davidbass7593]

Beautiful herd don't get any better

[@credenza1]

Good for the soul to see such happy and healthy animals.

[@mnhs06]

The wasp works really really really really well!

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We will see, hope your right!!

[@KaikanoSei]

My husband has both your books Greg, I just told him that you will be releasing a new book soon and he is so excited. He had a farm in the Battle Creek area but the suburbs were enclosing and we are using your information to relocate this summer and restart farming in the Upper peninsula in a place we have purchased. His goal is to build the same system of grazing as you use but in the upper Peninsula. We both really enjoy your information and look forward to watching your videos. Thanks again Greg.

[@rickayers3150]

Very interesting, never heard of using wasp. Keep us posted Greg.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Sure thing!

[@caseG80]

Parasitic wasp can be used for many different insects what happens Is there tiny wasps and they either sting the insect laying eggs inside once they hatch there larvae gotta eat killing the insects the larvae of predator bugs are the killers

[@acmund]

I've used them for years for a clients horses. They work well.

[@danielthomason5685]

Been thinking about trying these....look forward to update

[@HeritageFarmsTexas]

Looking forward to the test results to see if they worked.

[@pederjohansen2029]

Beautiful. Love the bucking calf's.

[@christophercullen3558]

Thanks again for your hard work.

[@ajoshmiller]

We're trying this for the first time this year also.

[@marvinbaier3627]

I know we have some beautiful calves that are bottle fed. The oldest calf looks great, and she is long too. The other 3 calves are coming right along. We feel very blessed to have our 5 South Poll animals. They are nice looking heifer calves. Thanks for all your videos! It looks like you had some rain. We had 2 nests on our property for parasite wasp last year. They took care of some of our insect pests too.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Sounds great!

[@cropslivestockworkingtoget3106]

We tried these wasps several years ago when we were raising bottle calves. The wasps worked very well around the barns, but I couldn't get them to do much out in the pastures.

[@gudrunlotz721]

Thank you for the information!

[@GrazingAcresFarm]

I've looked into the predator wasp several times, it's the price of them with my herd size that I can't justify. It wouldn't be so bad if it only took one application but it takes several throughout the grazing season. I've also experimented with adding garlic powder to Redmond's mineral and did noticed a decrease in flies, we just switched to the FCE mineral program about 6 months ago and since have stopped offering Redmond's. I'll be curious to see what the Redmond garlic pre-mix does for you. I'm glad I am not the only one that struggles to find calves every now and then. It haunt me when one goes missing, it's all I can think about so I'll end up spending all day out looking. Just bought me a drone to add aerial footage to my videos, thinking about getting a thermal camera for it to aid in finding the missing calves. Everyone looks fat and happy! Great video, Greg!

[@davemi00]

Interesting Fly Control.

[@davidhickenbottom6574]

Now the worms were impressive. I found a fat red worm yesterday in a manure pat. Its only going to get better.

[@deblawson1575]

Be interested to see how this works, thanks for sharing God Bless

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

You and me both!

[@davaolivingin6065]

I did dairy farming(herdman) for a few years and swore i'd never do it again because you become a slave to those animals, the farm. I always said that if i was to farm again, it only be beef cows. Lots like some of your cows have very liquid manure, almost scour. Diatomaceous Earth mixed with feed will solve that problem, plus it will help the animal process almost 100% of feed protein. No protein in manure means no flies. Cut manure smell down too.

[@valeriestevens5250]

I found that a combination of the two best known companies (each uses a different species or combination of species) did the best at controlling the flies. I also found that feeding my dogs garlic powder (NEVER fresh garlic) did a great job of stopping the flies from biting their ears. I'll be interested in how this works out for you Greg. Please try to give us at least one update at the end of the summer.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Will do.

[@tedbastwock3810]

Can you share a URL or something re: garlic powder for dogs? That's interesting. Is it useful for fleas, too?

[@valeriestevens5250]

​@@tedbastwock3810 Hi, Ted. I replied to this two weeks ago, but either it was removed for some reason or I forgot to hit "Reply." For the garlic, I would just check out the spice section of your local grocery store and see if they have a large size container and start with that. Some dogs won't eat garlic and others love it. Start with just a sprinkle and work up from there. My three weren't too thrilled with it so I only fed it once a day and only during fly season. If your dog likes it then feed year-round, about one teaspoon per 60 pounds. Only feed powdered or granulated garlic; not garlic salt or fresh garlic. Fresh garlic and onions can cause a hemolytic anemia in dogs. For larger quantities of granulated/powdered garlic either CostCo or Springtime, Inc. would be the places to go. And yes, it's supposed to repel fleas, ticks, gnats, mosquitoes, etc. We don't have fleas, ticks, or mosquitoes where I live so I can't speak from experience regarding those pests, only the flies. Good luck and let us all know if it worked for you.

[@tedbastwock3810]

@@valeriestevens5250 Wow, thanks much

[@valeriestevens5250]

@@tedbastwock3810 You are welcome very much! :)

[@hvlineman5227]

We tried fly predators from Spaulding Labs for two years. We saw a slight difference in our fly population, we noticed you have to put them out early as you are, before the flys are in. If you plan on buying them as the flys are already bad, forget it the fly predators won’t keep up.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us!

[@JESUS-js9oe]

Very informative video, congratulations for to chose a environmental friendly fly control

[@tinag2226]

Thank-You, Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. Priceless! Many Blessings!

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jimz2901]

I just started the Redmond with Garlic this week, I have a cow/calf and they hate it. I mix it with their "Treat" in the morning and evening and they have not been eating it all. I started with one of the scoops than half now a quarter scoop twice a day. Their treat is either a little sweet feed mixed with alfalfa pellets or just alfalfa pellets. I spoil my future suppers. And again I only have two.

[@julieduchinsky3822]

Good luck and hope it works. Congratulations on all the babies!!!

[@OniMetsuki]

I like what you have come up with so far and wish you the best. Your mission reminded me... : Some years back I saw a documentary cover a UK farmer, I think it was, who dealt with the fly larvae by following the rotation of the cows field to field with a large mobile chicken coop with the right timing, letting them loose on field so they can root though the cow pats and feast on the larvae etc. Also the chicken coop had raised rabbit cages above the chickens internal living area as their urine acts as pest control for the chickens. No more flies and get chickens and rabbits as a bonus. Certainly seemed to work well for him.

[@MrLeobub]

I’ve used these wasps for several years. Really cuts the fly population down.

[@bradquigley3676]

Wow!

[@Melidontcare]

Where can I buy them ?

[@highroad3580]

We used those successfully for our horses. Hope they work for your cows, too.

[@annagudmundsen4419]

Dung beetles could be another test to control the flies, they break up a cow pad in hours and deposit it underground. Guess it would have the job done in a similar natural way ?

[@robholmes6312]

If you read his books he gets lots of dung beetles. They're already one part of the arsenal.

[@DocMudd]

I commented about these a few months ago on one of your videos :)

[@terrilewis172]

Redmond garlic salt blocks really help for flies.

[@SLFYSH]

Sir, appreciate you passing on well earned wisdom in all your videos to the rest of us. I have a question regarding grass, grass species. I've seen you using rotational grazing and hay supplementation in areas good forage doesn't yet grow, till the hay seeds fall off and germinate. Have you done any other grass planting, or only relied on the hidden seed banks and hay? I'm looking at land that has been long abused, and am looking to transform it to decent graze land, but wish to do it most efficiently time and money wise, which are factors often at odds.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Patience is a virtue, you will get there but it takes time. Spread as much carbon on the land as possible, followed by livestock.

[@SLFYSH]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher I hear you. Have you seen any evidence of so called carbon lock from too much carbon to nitrogen ratio? I hear it can lock up nutrients and prevent plants from being able to use them for a while, setting yourself back. Im in Idaho, being overrun by fleeing Californians driving up land prices so I need to make some good land. Thank you for your time.

[@angelageisler9637]

Do you have the dimensions to your tree swallow houses? Thanks! Love your videos!

[@AugustinaKIstner]

You'll never need to buy fishing worms...ever!

[@drewk5929]

Yep when I have a ewe that doesn’t mother well or rejects lambs they booked a trip on the trailer lol

[@jomama5186]

Wow, I learned so much Watchung this!

[@popandhar]

Great video, did they work

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

No they did not work

[@paulburke6469]

Looking good.

[@floydfarms1578]

Definitely interested in this! If it works for you I’d love to get the info to try it ourselves.

[@perigrine]

"Sea Salt & Vinegar' and "Garlic" ? Sounds more like your feeding potato chips than minerals Greg!

[@HoneyHollowHomestead]

I just brought home a bottle calf to nurse off of my dairy goat. My LGD has been licking the calf.

[@AugustinaKIstner]

Also a new perspective to pre-Seasoning your Beef!

[@tylerblack3508]

Are you familiar with Richard Perkins method of moving laying hens into the area the cows were in about two days later?

[@jennifergolden8775]

We are in Texas and have the black headed vultures. We lost five calves over three years to them, they will even chase the calves in the first few days of life. We finally built a completely enclosed cage 25x25 to have new moms birth in, we keep the mom and baby in there for a week until the calf naturally gets up to run. It’s a real pain having to keep watch for who is ready to have their baby and to get them up before the vultures get them.

[@spoolsandbobbins]

Geez! We have same issue here in Nova Scotia but with eagles going after our lambs 😳

[@nynycs]

The worms in that manure pat- my jaw dropped. I have never seen earth worms in a manure pat like that before.

[@suebakafarmgirl4046]

Parasittic flys or wasps??I have used the parasitic flys & it helped a lot!!

[@JudgeD-hc9vw]

Will the wasps mess up your earthworm collection?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

No

[@JoeJohnson1]

What's your method of selling culls? I get that the calf can eventually be sold for meat, but what about a cow that's been butting it's calves?

[@sharonc.2207]

I have a side question, I have 30 acres i just got, and the land has been neglected. Going to begin to clear it up, but it is tick season and the place is overrun with ticks. Any tips and tricks to get rid of ticks? West Central Missouri here.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Just spray down good before going in there, then check yourself good when you come out.

[@daviddrennan5291]

Did you spray your fence line or is that just old winter bit grass? I know you're not a fan of chemicals.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We never spray, that is old stockpiled grass under the hot wire fence.

[@chiledoug]

I use Redmond horse salt for bathsalts

[@nicholaswilkerson9539]

Have your tried sulfur blocks

[@helmigfarm8130]

Nice video! What did you do with the calves that the heifers did not accept? Sell them too? We have had luck grafting them on another heifer if she losses her calf. Thanks.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We sell them

[@kenthenson4804]

Would pasturing laying hens perform the same function?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Tried that, not a solution at all for us. We move our cattle onto large areas twice per day, the chicken coops could not keep up. No money in layers when the neighbors are selling eggs for $1.75 a dozen!!!

[@kenthenson4804]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher I would imagine it would only work for with much smaller herds. Let us know how the wasps work out.

[@jeanneshannon5607]

You mentioned Black Vultutes. I never realized it could be that bad, but it is terrible. I read up on it right away after you said something. This subject will come up at our next farm meeting. Hugs to you and Jan and the guys

[@jeanneshannon5607]

@Karalevsky Borzoi yes we have only the red headed ones where we are. Some of those being a nuisance last year. We haven't seen the black ones. I'm going to be sick if we lose calves to this. Tks

[@troybishoppthegrasswhisper3703]

Cool pilot project. How much should I budget per month for doing this?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We are using the 400 head program, with 80,000 wasps shipped every Thursday. We will be getting 2 double shipments of 160,000 wasps in this period as well. Hold off until I get done with this experiment Grass Whisperer, don't want you spending money on this if it does not work. I'm your Guinee pig :)

[@kaceesavage]

This is interesting, is there a danger of these wasps becoming invasive?

[@rickayers3150]

I wonder what the life cycle is on them?

[@caseG80]

No there natural predators there tiny and will die off once there target food source runs out hints why they need to be released yearly. Cheers

[@caseG80]

@@rickayers3150 the adult wasps sting and lay eggs making it a host for there larvae once hatched they need to eat killing the insects inside out once grown the cycle starts over which doesn’t take very long once the food source runs out they will die off don’t know exact lifespan but most insects can reproduce every 3 days to a week the goal is breaking the fly or other pests life cycle there’s many different predator wasps that target certain insects from flys to caterpillars and the tiny ones in between

[@JasonDixonOnline]

I have missed a few videos lately but have you tried about the ACv and Redmonds experiment previously?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We are using apple cider vinegar and sea salt now. Redmond garlic mineral is coming next.

[@shanesnow3838]

We use fly predators at our horse farm and they work well. We also hang fly traps to catch any adult Flys. You do not need to open up the cow pies to apply them, just sprinkle them around. Flys need moisture to reproduce, the fly predators do not. They will hatch better right out in the open and they will travel to find the flys.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We were told to cover then up to prevent birds from eating the wasp larvae until they hatch.

[@shanesnow3838]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher yes, here in West Texas we don't have the green grass that you do, so no where to for them to hide. We haven't had any problems with birds. I would think all that green grass would give them good cover? Hope they work for you. They work great for us.

[@baileyattheoliveracreage]

We are looking at getting a mineral feeder from fce but we’re wondering how long yours is. Is yours the 8’ version or 6’ version. Thank you for the informative videos!

[@reds6836]

I hope you do the math and show us the cost at the end of the season

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We will be sharing all the numbers with you at the end along with our results.

[@drevil2783]

Greg what do you do to control ticks? As usual excellent video!!

[@rogerdubarry8505]

Johann Zietsmann and others say genetics is the key to that.

[@drevil2783]

@@rogerdubarry8505 thanks mate👍👍

[@dbmail545]

A deer repellent would be nice. Whitetail deer are a primary vector for ticks.

[@p5outdoors270]

Greg, I was curious of your results last summer with this method. Can you follow up with your opinion on this product?

[@jillyd2807]

Enjoyed that 👏👏👏👏

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Yay, thank you!

[@markalexander5124]

Questions: why do some of the cows have horns? Do you dehorn cattle?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

The ones with horns are 3/4 South Poll. We do not dehorn our cattle.

[@SLFYSH]

Sir, heads up, bad cold weather is coming and poised to set back a lot of farm and grazing land first week of May. How will that affect your operation?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Our local forecast looks good for the next 10 days.

[@SLFYSH]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher good. I'm seeing reports of a very large cold front of unseasonably cold weather coming down from Canada likely east of you. Looking at thr imagery it just had me thinking about how its going to affect people since alot of seeded forage is now coming up. I pray it's all smooth. God bless you and your family.

[@samjett7975]

I'm wondering if they need homes like carpenter bee houses in order to be self sustaining and not have to buy so many each year.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Not sure, we are still in the learning phase.

[@shawn8163]

So greg I any wanting to get started in my own cattle business how much money in your opinion would a man need? I currently have 1 cow calf pair on someone else's land

[@rubiccube8953]

No flies on you Gregg.

[@phaizonosborne2806]

Is there any update for this fiy control?

[@hunterblakegreen]

What are your thoughts on red hided Brahman influenced cattle such as Braford or red brangus?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

They have good heat tolerance!

[@nickhill8499]

If you're not deep south they will take a hit at the sale barn for color and ear. I'm not a proponent of black cattle just passing info.

[@gregoryhartung5646]

40,000 seems incredibly high! That's like a bite per second for 12 hours straight.

[@reds6836]

We would give our dogs garlic tablets to help against fleas

[@WalMac1976]

are these stinging wasps that will build nests under the sheds ?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

No, these guys are the size of tiny ants

[@userjeffe]

What happens to the calves that the mothers won’t take?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We sell them as bottle calves.

[@downbntout]

Use a drone to check for left-behind calves?

[@alexriddles492]

Is the plan to establish a self sustaining population of wasps? Or, is this an ongoing treatment plan?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We will see!

[@polespinosa4858]

I always thought it might be interesting to collect the manure and compost it with BSF, to end up with pig/chicken feed and compost to return back to the pasture or compost it further with red worms before returning it back to pasture.

[@caseG80]

All the poo is going back to the earth no need to collect and compost it if your pastures are full of life the worms and soil food web will do the job right where it lands.

[@caseG80]

Nature knows !!!

[@dingdongdaddy589]

Do you play a tuba for them? Herd (get it?) that was a thing...

[@bigwhane8603]

Do you sell the calves then too?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Yes.

[@mattcrowell7945]

I know people who have had good success with those fly predators in dairy barns but don't know about rotational pasture

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We are going to find out!

[@kalebesseskew5525]

How does it effect dung beetles

[@Shardalon]

So, is the hope that these wasps form a self-sustaining population at some point, or will you have to do this every year assuming it works?

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

We will see, this is an experiment.

[@Shardalon]

@@gregjudyregenerativerancher Ah, gotcha.

[@michaeljacobsen5636]

Just curious but do you also build bat boxes for your grazing lands? Been following your work for a while. Always enjoy seeing the new experiments and system tweaking you do. Hope to join you in the grazing life in the not too distant future. All the best!

[@caseG80]

Everyone should have bat boxes up even in track homes and if on some land owl boxes are great to .

[@doniedewgotstrikesagain2082]

There's a job that never ends.

[@shelleytipping4025]

What do u do about tics on your cattle?

[@gmoac]

you are a rich man Greg

[@Hitman1978]

Have you tried the chicken method? Have a flock of chickens follow 3 days behind your cows...they'll eat the fly larvae right up and you'll have chickens to sell as well.

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Yes I have, no chickens for me.

[@lindagates9150]

I wonder if you know the song that starts out something like I know an old lady who swallowed a fly that jiggled and wiggled inside her she goes on to swallow progressively bigger insects and animals I am sure that “I don’t know why she swallowed a fly” is sung countless times in the song. I hope that your experiment works with better results than you could ever hope for, with nothing that could come back to bite you in the future! 👍🖖👍🖖👍🖖👍🤷🏼‍♀️🤔😘💞🙋🏼‍♀️

[@gregjudyregenerativerancher]

Linda, I heard a song similar to that as a kid. Your song brings back memories of my childhood!

[@aFamiliaLucas]

What vest is Issac wearing? Looks sharp, and perfect for cool weather

[@ffrohrer]

Carhartt