Ticks are economically the most significant external parasites of livestock. Heavy infestations cause direct harm (blood loss, a reduced rate of live weight gain, a lower milk yield, and a degradation of hide quality) and indirect harm (tick-borne diseases such as redwater, heartwater, anaplasmosis, and sweating sickness).

Efficient tick control enables profitable stock farming. Without it, it would probably have been impossible to farm with cattle in many regions of South Africa where high tick populations of single- and multi-host ticks occur.