Friday, March 29, 2024

Food gel deters pests

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Keeping pests and, particularly birds, out of calf-rearing areas and dairies is a serious issue for most farmers.
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With milk companies putting strict controls on hygiene and chemical use, finding ways to prevent birds and other pests spreading bacteria adds to the challenge.

Now a new food-based Pest Control Standard (PCS) Gel is approved for use in dairies.

Birds, rats, mice, and possums are high-risk pests to food processing operations such as dairies, simply for their ability to spread viruses and other bacteria in their droppings, dairy farmer and PCS Gel importer Tony Overbeek says.

Faeces in the dairy are a hygiene and health issue which must be carefully managed while the risk of salmonella is a very real prospect in calf-rearing areas.

Farmers often spend lots of money on pest control systems that don’t work or work for only as long as it takes the animals to figure out another way.

As a Cambridge sharemilker, Overbeek had a battle with birds in the dairy making a mess on the milk lines and air lines. 

He saw the PCS Gel on a trip to Korea and decided to try it.

“For the first trial I actually used less than the recommended dosage but still covered all the milk lines in the dairy.

“The gel started working right away and 18 months later we still haven’t got any birds in the dairy.”

Made from food products such as vegetable oil, cinnamon, and pepper, PCS Gel is harmless to humans, animals, and the environment. 

The primary deterrent to pests is the taste and feel of the pepper and gel oil while the cinnamon smell creates the longer-term barrier, reminding animals the gel is in the area.

Overbeek says off-farm uses include protecting cars and buildings, and a childcare centre used it on outdoor tables where children ate because birds were making a mess.

Fonterra has approved PCS Gel for dairy use.

For more information visit www.shoof.co.nz.

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