How to Sell Ant Treatments in Sensitive Accounts?

Sumitomo ant baits have a long history of use in government ant control programs due to their flexibility of use and proven performance.

Many pest managers have their go-to ant treatment – often a combination of ant baits and non-repellent sprays – which they will use on the majority of ant jobs. But in sensitive accounts, using these favoured products may not be possible due to their safety profile and allowed use pattern. In such situations, it’s important to know which alternative products can be used. And indeed, having this in-depth product knowledge can help in picking up new business.

Firstly, it’s important to define a ‘sensitive account’. What does this mean? It is a generic term for a situation where restrictions are placed on product choice, whether it’s due to the presence of humans, animals, food or food crops, environmental considerations or the ongoing activities in the application area. In these situations, safety is of increased importance. Such accounts could be schools and childcare facilities, hospitals and aged care facilities, and cropping areas. But normal residential areas, where children and pets are present, can often be considered sensitive accounts.

Inside buildings, the use of baits in bait stations provides an easy and obvious solution. It allows the placement of products in suitable locations, avoiding unwanted non-target contact. However, the control of ants outdoors in sensitive accounts is more problematic.

Treating lawn and garden areas, where children and pets may play, needs to be considered carefully. Sometimes insecticide sprays may be labelled for such use, but even if re-entry is allowed after the spray has dried, many customers will still have an issue allowing their children and pets to play on treated lawns. This is especially the case for schools and childcare centres. Yet, they also need to protect the children from biting ants, in particular green-headed ants, and against the increasing threat of fire ants.

Synergy Pro and Distance Plus, two granular ant baits from Sumitomo, provide pest managers with the tools to tackle outdoor ant problems in these sensitive accounts. Synergy Pro contains two different food granules and two different insecticides, delivering colony control to a wide range of ant species in 1-2 weeks. Distance Plus is a single granule formulation containing only an insect growth regulator. Although this means colony control can take up to eight weeks, the product has an unscheduled poison status and is in fact the only ant bait that can be applied in cropping areas.

 

Olive trees growing in rows
Distance Plus is the only ant bait labelled for use in cropping areas

 

Schools and childcare facilities can be profitable accounts. Providing them with a solution to keep their playing areas free of biting ants can be a way to demonstrate your expertise and provide a point of difference versus your competitors, potentially gaining a customer. Confirming the need to keep playing areas clear of biting ants is an important first step, but with the use of Sumitomo ant baits, you can highlight that it’s possible to keep these areas free of ants without the need for spraying.

What’s more, the application can be carried out during the school holidays, ensuring the areas are ant free for the start of term. As it takes time for ants to re-invade a treated area, playing fields should remain ant free for several months. For accounts with stricter restrictions on insecticide use, Distance Plus with its unscheduled poison classification will often be the only viable solution.

The fact that Distance Plus is the only ant bait labelled for use in cropping areas means it provides an option for ant control in food crops in commercial accounts as well as for homeowners who grow their own fruit and vegetables. It’s still important to take care in application, namely the bait should be applied to the ground rather than on the plants, to avoid bait being trapped in the foliage, and it should not be applied in pasture or other areas where poultry could feed on the bait. As long as the directions for use are followed, there is no grazing withholding period.

Knowing your products can open up new opportunities and win customers. Sumitomo ant baits allow pest managers to tackle a wide range of outdoor ant problems in a wide range of residential and commercial situations, including sensitive accounts. With both baits coming in a range of pack sizes up to a 4 kg bucket and a 10 kg bag of Distance Plus coming soon, pest managers can treat large areas with ease.

 

Fire ant control in northern NSW

Sumitomo ant baits have their heritage in government invasive ant programs around the world, including their use in the red imported fire ant (RIFA) program in Australia. For pest managers in northern NSW it is worth pointing out that Distance Plus is the only bait that can be used under the current NSW emergency order for treatment of businesses that deal in RIFA-transmissible material, such as turf farms and landscape supply businesses.

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