Eradication of sheep blowflies on Kangaroo Island has begun, with the $3.45 million world-first demountable sterile blowfly breeding facility now open.

The Australian sheep blowfly can cause flystrike, which affects the health of sheep and yield of wool and causes significant economic losses for producers. 

Senator Anthony Chisholm is federal Assistant Minister for Regional Development and for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

He says a cost benefit analysis has shown that eradicating sheep blowfly on Kangaroo Island could save producers an estimated $88 million over 25 years and improve animal wellbeing.

“Sheep producers across Australia are keen to see this program succeed in the hope this technology can be replicated on a broader scale.

“We’re thrilled to have played our part in a project that will have real, tangible benefits for our farmers. Not just in terms of money saved, but in how much we can prevent suffering in our livestock.

“Collaboration is always key to solving pest issues in this space and that’s exactly what has happened under this extraordinary pilot, which has brought together so many different organisations under SARDI.”

Staff from the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) started mass rearing flies in April, with the first flies expected to be released in September. 

When at full capacity (expected to be reached in 2025) the facility will allow up to 50 million blowflies per week to be reared and irradiated to render them sterile before release.

The state-of-the-art Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) facility has been constructed in shipping containers so that once the project is complete on Kangaroo Island it can be redeployed elsewhere in South Australia to continue the program.

The flies will be released as part of the SARDI-led $5.7 million SIT blowfly pilot project funded by Meat and Livestock Australia, Australian Wool Innovation, Animal Health Australia, the SA Sheep Industry Fund, and the University of Adelaide.

SIT is recognised as an effective option for management of insects, where large numbers of sterile male flies are released in the field. 

These flies mate with female flies which are then unable to lay eggs. The technique is already widely used successfully for other fly species, such as fruit flies in South Australia and screw-worm flies in North and Central America.

Construction of the SIT facility was supported through the Local Economic Recovery program, jointly funded by the federal and state governments in response to the 2019-20 bushfires.

Local Kangaroo Island building company Kauppila Pty Ltd completed the siteworks contract, with Adelaide-based GAAS Shipping Containers providing the modified shipping containers, and Bio-Strategy Pty Ltd providing the radiation equipment.

State Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Clare Scriven says the impacts of blowflies to sheep can be devastating and can have significant economic impacts on producers.

“Sheep blowflies can be completely eradicated from Kangaroo Island and this facility will be at the forefront of that mission.

“Its unique design – a world first for this type of facility – will allow it to be re-deployed elsewhere once this project is finished to give us great value for money on top of the fantastic outcomes it will achieve here on Kangaroo Island.”

Jamie Heinrich is a sheep farmer and Chair of Agriculture Kangaroo Island.

“The eradication of this sheep blowfly will be a gamechanger for the sheep industry here on KI. 

“The flystrike caused by these flies happens very fast and sheep can get to a bad stage very quickly, whereas flystrike from other species of flies happens much slower.

“This will drastically reduce the number of sheep impacted by flies, while also saving farmers a lot of time and money for fly management.”