Could flystrike in sheep be a thing of the past?
It is hoped the eradication of Australian sheep blowflies that cause the dastardly disease is one step closer with the completion of a world-first sterile blowfly breeding facility on Kangaroo Island.
When operational, the building and associated research project will breed and irradiate up to 50 million blowflies a week.
The sterile insect technique breeding centre has been constructed in shipping containers and has been handed over to SARDI to commence breeding and sterilizing flies in the coming months.
When the sterile male flies mate with females in the wild, the females are unable to lay eggs.
The first flies are expected to be released in 2024, with the facility increasing to full capacity in 2025.
Once the Kangaroo Island leg of the project is complete, the facility will be redeployed elsewhere in South Australia to continue the program.
Flystrike is estimated to cost Australian sheep producers in the ballpark of $280 million in losses annually, through prevention, treatment and lost productivity.
A cost benefit analysis has shown that eradicating sheep blowfly could save KI producers about $88m over 25 years.
Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven said it was exciting to see the world-first project advance to this stage.
"Kangaroo Island is a pristine landscape and eradicating Australian sheep blowflies from the island will have great economic benefits," she said.
"We are already using this technique to breed sterile Queensland fruit flies in Port Augusta, so we know this is an effective way to control fruit fly outbreaks.
"We now expect strong success from using sterile flies to address sheep flystrike."
Kangaroo Island building company Kauppila completed the siteworks contract, with Adelaide-based GAAS Shipping Containers providing the modified shipping containers and Bio-Strategy providing the radiation equipment for the $3.45m build.
The initial build will be followed by a SARDI-led $5.7m research project funded by Meat and Livestock Australia, Australian Wool Innovation, Animal Health Australia, the SA Sheep Industry Fund and the University of Adelaide.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said his government were pleased to partner with its state counterparts on a project that would have a lasting impact on the region.
