Stored Product Pest Seminar ‘Heats’ Up

MINNEAPOLIS — PCT’s Stored Product Pest Seminar continued Thursday in Minneapolis with a wide range of speakers and discussions for pest management and quality assurance professionals.

First on Thursday morning was a panel discussion featuring three university researchers. Each updated attendees about ongoing research at their universities. Included in the discussions were Dr. Bhadriraju Subramanyam, Kansas State University; Dr. Stephen Kells, University of Minnesota; and Dr. Tom Phillips, Oklahoma State University. The panel was moderated by The Steritech Group’s Dean Stanbridge.

Other speakers included Ole Dosland, QCC Services, whose presentation “Turning up the Heat: Temperature Modification” discussed hot and cold temperatures used to treat for stored product pests. “We’re at war with pests,” he said. “Pests will win the war but we need to win every battle.”

Dosland reminded the professionals in attendance that when performing heat treatments, the thermal shock differential “rule of thumb” is 90 degrees. For example, when it is in the teens and twenties as it has been in Minneapolis this week, you can’t perform a heat treatment that would raise the building’s temperature to 122 degrees or else you’d “shock the structure.” 

Jeff Weier of Sprague Pest Solutions discussed the role of pheromones in stored product pest management. He offered the following tips for pheromone trap placement and density:
• Place traps at eye level for flying insects
• To cover the entire space, place traps about 20 feet apart vertically
• Place traps at least 30 feet apart horizontally
• Use one trap for every 10,000 to 30,000 square feet
• Place at least three traps in each discreet room or zone
• Watch for air currents

On Friday, speakers will include Jay Bruesch, Plunkett’s Pest Control, Frank Meek, Orkin Pest Control; Al St. Cyr, AIB; and Dr. Stephen Kells, University of Minnesota.

The title sponsors of PCT’s three-day Stored Product Pest Seminar are Dow AgroSciences and TempAir. Associate sponsors include MGK, Trece and Zoecon Professional Products.