New website to help farmers fight pests

Farmers have all their rodent pest control options at the click of a mouse thanks to Pest Go, New Zealand's leading online shop for farming related pest control products.

The business is owned by Specialty Seeds and business owner Stephen Finch says the opportunity to set up Pest Go arose in 2008 because of the problem of black field crickets in the north of the North Island.

''Black field crickets are a major problem in the Waikato, Auckland and Northland regions where they eat pasture.

Farmers used to have to mix wheat and chemical themselves which was unpleasant. We developed a premixed product, Crickoff Pro, registered which farmers only had to apply.''

Having developed an effective product, Mr Finch set about finding one way of selling it to farmers. He decided a website was a good option and it was launched in 2009.

Since then Pest Go has grown and sells a wide range of pest control products for the control of possums, rabbits, stoats, mice and rats. The e-commerce website is being refined frequently with new products added.

Clients can order online by going to their website www.pestgo.co.nz where they can select the product or products they want. The products are then delivered directly to their back door.

For clients in the greater Canterbury area he says orders are normally delivered in two working days.

Mr Finch says Pest Go prices are inclusive of all costs including GST and delivery costs. ''There are no hidden costs with Pest Go. The advertised price is all you pay.''

One product he is particularly excited about is the Pied Piper bait station for the control of rodent pests. This bait station is a rectangular box made of strong durable moulded plastic which features a covered bait hopper on the top. This feeds pellets of bait via gravity into the box below through a grate.

The station operates by an animal entering the bait station from either end or eating at the pellets of bait hanging down through the grate. The animal eats the pellets then leaves the bait station to seek water and eventually dies.

Mr Finch says the Pied Piper has a number of advantages over other bait stations: ''All the poison is consumed by the animal inside the bait station which is much safer than other baits where the animals typically take the baits away to store them to eat them later.

''They then die but often leave bait remnants lying around which wastes bait and can be harmful to the  environment.

The other important advantage is the Pied Piper can be used with other cheaper types of bait reducing operating costs for users.

''Because the bait storage area is weather-proof you can use baits which may otherwise deteriorate if exposed to rain.''

Mr Finch says the Pied Piper is ideal for use around buildings and grain storage areas where rodents in particular can be a potential problem. Pest Go also has the cheapest mice and rat traps in New Zealand, according to Mr Finch; also its imported possum leg traps are selling for just $7.50.

He says some retailers charge up to $30 for similar traps so by buying through Pest Go farmers can enjoy major pest control cost savings.