Growing Beef Newsletter
May 2026, Volume 16, Issue 11
Tick control
Grant Dewell, ISU Extension beef veterinarian, Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine
Last year the Asian longhorned tick (ALHT) was identified in Iowa along with a blood borne parasite that can cause acute death from anemia. By the fall the tick had been identified in 8 counties along in southeastern and south central Iowa. As there is no treatment or control for the blood parasite your best management strategy will be to control the tick. The ALHT is unique in that the female can reproduce without mating with a male so they can migrate to new geographic areas very easily so everyone in Iowa should be concerned. The tick overwinters very well and it is common to see a bloom of ticks in late May and early June when cattle are turned out to grass as there can be substantial numbers of ticks waiting for an appropriate host.
Unlike flies, ticks are harder to control with standard external parasite control programs such as fly tags and pour-ons. Applying the insecticide directly where the ticks like to congregate provides better control. In a pasture situation cattle oilers or rubbers are probably the most practical method for control. If you have had a problem with ticks in the past or seeing a lot of ticks during the summer then a spray that allows you to get underneath the belly, along the flanks, between their legs and up to the tail head will get better control, also don’t forget the ears if not using fly tags.
Recommended control program for Southern Iowa would be:
- Grass turnout – pour with pyrethroid based product, this will provide some initial protection early on until we can gauge tick populations.
- Summer – if you start seeing tick on cattle switch to a cattle oiler or rubber with an organophosphate insecticide. Make sure to recharge the insecticide regularly.
- Clinical cases of anemia from Theileria – look at an injectable dewormer plus spray cattle with insecticide. Although injectable dewormers will kill ticks they have to attach and take enough of a bloodmeal to reach effect which may not prevent transmission of disease.
Some environmental control can be utilized such as burning. However, the ticks will repopulate these areas from wildlife movement. Removing or fencing cattle out of brushy areas (especially cedar trees) can be beneficial as they provide ideal environment for ticks. Environmental spraying is not effective as ticks move up and down the forage depending on temperature and humidity and are rarely at the top where aerial application would deposit the insecticide.
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