Treating pests with chemical bait is nothing new! especially if you are a landowner or an avid Gardner. Aerial baiting products contain similar active ingredients in products you can buy from hardware stores like bunnings, and minor infestations around the garden or work shed can be treated easily using small doses. But for a commercial scale operations like Crops Pasture and Horticulture, this is where Aerial application Drones shine! In this post I explain the three common pests that are being baited with commercial application UAV’s .
Some baiting treatments are “Pre emergent” for pests like Snail’s/Slugs and the Black field Cricket, and for field mice are on a case by case basis. These are the basic three pests that UAV’s are approved to treat with bait products.
“Pre-emergent” for baiting treatments basically means the stage of a crop or pasture before the pest is overly active, and when the plants are palatable. This is where timing is crucial! because applying the bait too late when pest populations are large and the plants are at the highly palatable stage, gives the pest a choice between eating a chemical bait or a delicious plant. Applying too early is not recommended either as pelletised baits are often rain-fast (dissolve and wash away during rain), and some grain baits become Inert (inactive overtime).
Snail’s and Slugs are aerial baited late march up until the crops palatable stage, as they have an affinity for winter crops. Its also when they are most active.
Snails or Slugs are baited with pelletised Methaldehyde or Iron Phosphate EDTA. Methaldehyde is the older and widely used option because of its rapid results, but requires more care as it is quite toxic to off target species and pets. Iron Phosphate is less toxic but is more likely to require follow-up treatment, and is the only bait approved with Organic farming. Both baits are applied at a maximum of 15kgs per Hectare.
The Black field Cricket’s optimal baiting time is February, and followed up through march to early April. The pre-emergent aerial bait is normally a cracked grain same type as the to the crop being treated. The cracked Grain is coated with a seed treatment containing Imidacloprid, this process is similar to inoculation in that it is done just before application. The maximum application rate is 15kg per Hectare.
Mouse baiting is dependent on mice population or if a plague is predicted, also mouse breeding is highly dependent on climatic conditions and the amount of food available. Compared to 2022 plague this year’s mouse population is considered low and under control. The bait’s active ingredient is normally Zinc Phosphate in the form of pre-treated Grain and has a maximum application rate of 1kg per Hectare.
So what do all of these aerial baiting treatments have in common?, the answer is a low application rate per Hectare! This makes it an excellent job for an aerial application Drone. With a payload of 17Kg my trusty P30 MAX can rip through quite a few Hectares in a day! The other great thing is no wheel tracks or damage to crop or pasture, just effortless application of product.
So if you’re having pest problems or require more information on aerial baiting, contact us through the “contact “page or “request a quote”.
If you liked this blog there are plenty more to come.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to flying with you soon!
Cheers 😉,
Joel Gilbert
Owner and Operator of Oakdale UAV Solutions.