Advancements in Pest Management Monitoring for Food Processors Jerry Heath, BCE The Industrial Fumigant Co. (IFC) Grain Journal Webinar Series July 9, 2014
Monitoring is one of the fundamental elements of IPM Everybody who trains on pest mgmt has a diagram Understanding pest threats and sanitation are almost always most basic. Pesticide use is often important but should be driven by other fundamentals. Pesticides Phys. Controls Design/ exclusion Trapping/Monitor Inspections Sanitation ID & Understand Pest
Audit Standards Require Trend Reporting Facility Assessments Monitoring Also, economic incentives: - Effectiveness of program and treatments? - Best use of resources. Monitoring is fundamental to the science of IPM, audit standards, and economics of food processing.
Monitoring Tools Pheromone traps (for select species) - Sex and aggregation attractants. - Food attractants (kairomones). Insect Light Traps - Electrocutors & Glue board styles. - bulb color choices, annual replacements. Misc. other insect monitoring and trapping.
Rodent Monitoring Rodent traps - Wind-up or teeter-totter multi-catch designs, maybe supplemented with glue board inserts. - Innovative designs for corners and narrow spaces. Bait stations
Other Monitoring and Methods Bird activity observations. Moth flights, dust trails, employee pest sightings. Monitoring in course of inspections and sanitation. QC monitoring of ingredients, tailings, products. Consumer complaints
Product Highlights: Pheromone Traps Many manufacturers and products. More sophisticated than they look! X-Lure was an innovation for comprehensive SPP monitoring Improved upon by Trece Quick Change!
Product Highlights: Insect Light Traps Insect attraction generally corresponds to light wavelength and wattage output. Vector Plasma has some of the greatest output for its size and cost. Std. light blue bulbs are fine. Other colors appeal to narrower spectrum of insects. New long-life bulbs may not be audit-compliant.
Product Highlights: Mouse Traps No performance difference between wind-up and Tin-Cat styles. Kness Pro-Ketch was innovative for attaching mechanism to top for easier service and cleaning.
Product Highlights: Innovative Mouse Trap Styles Narrow foot print styles. Styles for corner placements.
Product Highlights: Rodent Bait Stations Many brands and styles. Not much difference from monitoring perspective. Bell Protecta is a standard. Ease of opening and service, color, top slope, and accommodation of snap traps may be important. Innovative products with integral blocks.
Placement and Service of Pheromone Traps Grid placement is desirable but not always practical. Manufacturers recommend about 50 spacing. Lures vary in service life. Dust may limit trap glue effectiveness. Suggest 4-8 week replacement. Monitor weekly in season.
Placement of Insect Light Traps Dual purpose: control and monitoring. Place to intercept invaders but out of direct sight from outdoors. Electrocutors are good for high-capacity captures in less sensitive areas. Glue board types better for processing areas and insect ID. Invading flies are often a prime target. Low placement is best. High placements more likely to capture night flyers.
Rodent Traps and Bait Stations Former 3 lines strategy modified. Trapping to supplement baiting has been a good trend. Suggestion: Report outdoor trapping separately from indoor captures. Formula-based placement schemes have no scientific basis, but they served well for many years. Audit requirements and state of the art rodent management is changing!
Audit standards and thoughtful rodent mgmt is moving away from formula-based placements Former placement schemes are likely to persist. With qualifications, appropriate placement could be much different!
The Essence of Monitoring is Analysis Data on pest activity has been noted on service reports for years: snapshots. Software has enabled easier data management, mapping and communications. Photo albums? Still requires a person with skill and insight o analyze!
Analyze: Explain the trends or data highlights! Trends follow normal seasonal fluctuations. Rodent capture locations correspond with door gaps. 4 th floor flour beetle hotspot: dead equipment. Warehouse beetle spike corresponds with outdoor populations; Suspect invaders rather than indoor infestation.
Summary Monitoring is a fundamental element of pest management. A wide variety of products and techniques are available for monitoring. The essence of monitoring is analysis. This might be an area for improvement.
Thanks for your attention. We hope you found this informative. Please Remember IFC for all of your pest management product and service needs. www.indfumco.com (800) 477-4432