Testimonials

Diacon^® Products Eliminate Stored Grain Pest Concerns for Ritzville Warehouse Company

Ritzville Warehouse Company, located in eastern Washington, is the oldest farmer-owned grain cooperative in the state and has a storage capacity of more than 18 million bushels. Quality control and maintaining the condition of the wheat at Ritzville is critical for Dave Kommes, Ritzville’s warehouse and maintenance supervisor.

“A huge part of our operation is making sure we have an effective Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program in place,” states Mr. Kommes.

Part of Ritzville’s IPM program is to choose the most effective pest management products to control unwanted stored grain insects. In 2004, Mr. Kommes was introduced by a colleague to DIACON^® IGR.

Mr. Kommes elaborates, “He was the first one I know to use the product and we jumped on it after that. DIACON^® products have been really effective for our operations. No bugs at all.”

Ritzville is one of many happy customers that have used DIACON^® products to keep operations running smoothly.

Stafford County Flour Mills Company Relies on
DIACON^®-D and DIACON^® II for Insect Control

Located in Hudson, Kansas, the Stafford County Flour Mills Company is one of the last independent flour mills remaining in the U.S., and its mission is the same as it was more than a century ago: Produce the best quality flour possible at a fair price. With a highly revered product, strong community ties, and a loyal customer base, executives at Stafford County know that to ensure its continued success, nothing can be taken for granted. This includes continual evaluation of its strategies for insect control and integrated pest management (IPM) programs.

Watson knows how critical insect control and IPM programs are for a sustainable and profitable operation, and at Stafford, the red flour beetle is one of the primary pest challenges. Watson said, “In a flour mill operation, you are always dealing with insect infestation and reinfestation. It’s a war you wage in this business when you’re dealing with any kind of grain.”

Stored-grain insects often cause as much loss after harvest as crop insects cause during the growing season, both by direct feeding damage and in grain deterioration and contamination. Specifically, the red flour beetle is found in temperate areas and can survive the winter in protected places such as untreated concrete and steel wheat storage containers. For Watson, whose main responsibilities are food safety and quality control, being as proactive and preventative as possible is a priority.

“My biggest challenge is for me to control them instead of them controlling me, and in a typical season, we fight insects from about April to November,” Watson said.

In the past, Watson and his team have relied on a few yearly applications of methyl bromide, a common insect control fumigant, but applications were relatively costly and the compound began coming under more scrutiny. In early 2005, Watson began looking for additional insect control solutions, and a rep from a local pest control company recommended Watson consider DIACON^® insect growth regulator (IGR) manufactured by Central Life Sciences.

“I was looking for a solution for the mill, packaging department and warehouse, and was familiar with insect growth regulators, but not DIACON^® in particular,” Watson said. “The Entech Systems rep told me I almost had to use it because it was so effective,” he finished.

Currently, Watson applies DIACON^® II, a liquid formulation, every two weeks, and knows the importance of addressing all potential places throughout the mill where insects might be a problem. “DIACON^® is a very important tool in insect control and there are other important considerations as well such as sanitation and perimeter control, so we don’t want to eliminate anything,” he said.

So how effective has DIACON^® been for Stafford County Flour Mills? “We have data from independent sources and the USDA and it’s been absolutely unbelievable,” Watson said. “We saw a 70% reduction in insects the first month and within three months, we questioned whether there were any still remaining.”

In fact, word about Stafford’s successful use of DIACON^® and comprehensive IPM program has spread and during a recent Association of Operative Miller’s meeting, USDA data was presented about the mill’s insect control success. Since then, other large operations have implemented the same strategies and followed the same IPM procedures.

“We’re very sold on DIACON^® and it’s better than anything we’ve used in the past,” Watson said.

 

DIACON^® controls Lesser Grain Borers at Washington Wheat Warehouse

Jim Bafus, manager of Almira Farmers Warehouse Co., used several insect control products in the past, but since trying DIACON^® he has finally succeeded in combating the destructive insects.

“DIACON^® far surpasses other products,” said Jim. “We wanted long-term control of Lesser Grain Borers and other insects in hard-to-treat areas such as grain elevator shafts. Since using DIACON^®, we have seen zero reinfestation.”

“Treating insect infestations with DIACON^® saves me a lot of grief. I have peace of mind knowing that once it’s done, I won’t see any more infested stored wheat. Grain has remained in the same location for up to two years at a time, with no insect problems,” said Bafus.“Occasionally with other products, we noticed residual chemicals left on the product, which buyers balked at. But with DIACON^® we have had no complaints.”

Jim’s positive experience with DIACON^® has made him a proponent of the use of insect growth regulators.“Insect growth regulators solve the problem of Lesser Grain Borer resistance by killing developing insects and sterilizing the adults. It’s hard to build up a resistance when they can’t pass their genes along.”

Lesser Grain Borer

Randy Watson

Jim Bafus