BASF have chosen LAMMA to promote Storm® Ultra Secure, a new rodenticide. The product contains 25 parts per million (ppm) of the active substance flocoumafen and is a wax free formulation which makes it more palatable to rodents. It will be available in a variety of pack sizes to professional users* and farmers as well as the general public.
Rodents consume and spoil stored produce, spread disease to humans and livestock, attack growing crops and damage buildings. It is therefore essential for farmers to find the right bait that has high efficacy and palatability.
Sharon Hughes, global technical marketing Manager, for BASF explains. “Since second generation rodenticides were released in the 1970s and 80s to combat rodent resistance to the early anticoagulants of the 1950s, a complacency about rodent control has developed. It is believed that all second-generation actives have a high rate of efficacy and that rodents have little to no resistance to them. However, this is not the case because rats have already shown resistance to difenacoum and bromadiolone.”
Resistance is only one factor in the efficacy of a rodenticide. Palatability is an equally important consideration. The strength of the active is irrelevant if the rodent is not attracted to eat the product. It is therefore important to have an active that rodents are not resistant to and a product that is highly palatable to ensure a sufficient quantity of the active is consumed.
Sharon concludes, “It is clear that rodents will continue to adapt, but none have built a resistance or tolerance to the flocoumafen active in Storm. By making Storm Ultra Secure more palatable we have created a 25ppm product that farmers can use to effectively control rodents on their farm.”
