Facilitating ferric uptake – a biocontrol success story
Nathan Whitehouse, Certis Belchim marketing manager
It’s human nature to gravitate towards routine.Routine slug control over several decades, for many growers, was reaching for a bag of metaldehyde-based pellets where chemical intervention was needed.
Why waste time deliberating on the use of anything else when an existing and familiar solution is cost-effective and readily available?
However, in 2008, the formation of the Metaldehyde Stewardship Group (MSG) provided a big cue for change.
It brought together the water companies, molluscicide manufacturers and the farming industry in a joint effort to stop metaldehyde exceedances being found in raw water supplies.
It was immediately clear that part of the solution was promoting the use of alternatives, and ferric phosphate – a biological active substance – was the only clear candidate, as methiocarb had its own issues.
However, with many biological products, particularly in the early days of development, they are often perceived as inferior and less effective amongst users.
Since the introduction of ferric phosphate in 2005, in partnership with German manufacturer Neudorff, the Certis Belchim team (formally Certis) has worked tirelessly to develop improved products for the UK market and instil confidence in ferric phosphate.
It was mainly horticultural growers that used their first ferric phosphate pellet Ferramol, because its 1% formulation required high field rates of 12-25kg/ha for optimum efficacy, and such high doses were not cost-effective in broadacre crops.
Formation of the MSG served as fuel to the development fire, and in 2009, 3% wet processed pasta-based formulation Sluxx was launched, which brought down field rates to 5-7kg/ha, making it viable for broadacre growers, too.
The next key development milestone was the introduction of Sluxx HP, which built on the highly durable Sluxx pellet that was able to endure wetter conditions for longer than other dry-processed baits.
The “High Performance” formulation added a food-grade anti-mould agent and changed the chelating agent – the substance which gets the ferric phosphate into the slugs’ digestive system – from EDTA to EDDS.
These significantly improved durability – not only can the pasta-based pellet physically withstand the wet, it is less prone to moulding, thus remaining more palatable for longer. EDDS is also proven to have greater persistence, so widened the window of efficacy as well.
There was also demand for a mini ferric phosphate pellet offering a higher number of baiting points than a standard-sized pellet like Sluxx HP at comparable rates.
Using the same high-quality formulation, Menorexx mini pellets were brought to the market in 2019.
All the product development would not have been worthwhile without communicating the key differences between metaldehyde, methiocarb and ferric phosphate and proving that ferric phosphate had similar efficacy.
At Neudorff, development agronomist Peter Baumjohann and his team conducted over 200 trials across Europe with the original Sluxx formulation (and more recently Sluxx HP) to convince farmers of its performance.
In all cases, efficacy was comparable, and interestingly ferric phosphate was proven to be better than metaldehyde at lower temperatures, making it a solution for any crop at any point during a growing season.
However, trials data on its own – particularly when it comes from a manufacturer – is not always convincing enough and it is grower experience and the sharing of that experience that has been the most powerful tool in the uptake of ferric phosphate.
It has a completely different mode of action to metaldehyde, which, once ingested by the slug triggers the excess production of mucus, causing it to dehydrate and die on the soil surface.
The resulting slime trials and dead bodies gave growers the visual assurance of its efficacy.
The greatest challenge for ferric phosphate uptake was helping farmers understand that it would not provide such glaring evidence but instead acted in a more discreet manner.
When a slug ingests a Sluxx HP or Menorexx pellet, the chelating agent helps to get the active substance into two vital parts – the crop and the hepatopancreas, or digestive organ.
With the crop the first to be breached, this stops the slug feeding, but it may still take some time before it reaches the digestive organ to deliver the lethal blow.
During this period, slugs often retreat down the soil profile before death, so evidence of control is not direct. Instead, growers must keep a close eye on their crops and see the evidence that feeding damage has stopped.
The process of educating growers and agronomists of its credentials was given a helping hand by the very wet and high-pressure year of 2012, when many cereal growers exhausted their permitted number of metaldehyde and methiocarb applications.
With the slug onslaught continuing, many were forced to try Sluxx HP for the first time and found it worked just as well.
Five years later, helped by the withdrawal of methiocarb in 2015, ferric phosphate had already captured 30-40% of the molluscicide market.
Today, with metaldehyde gone too, Certis Belchim and competitor ferric phosphate pellets represent almost all molluscicide sales and show how biological plant protection products – with the right development and market engagement – can be a roaring success.
It certainly reinforces the belief that our Growing for the Future initiative will help break some old habits and accelerate uptake of biological PPPs in a whole range of crops, helping to deliver on several key sustainability targets for agriculture today.
Supporting the customer and helping them use the product correctly is also crucial to successful slug control.
The launch of the Certis Belchim calibration wizard is a great example, allowing operators to quickly and easily set up their applicator for the accurate spreading of our product range.
Hopefully, this will create another new and positive routine on farms so that application is given the attention it deserves.
In all cases, efficacy was comparable, and interestingly ferric phosphate was proven to be better than metaldehyde at lower temperatures, making it a solution for any crop at any point during a growing season.
However, trials data on its own – particularly when it comes from a manufacturer – is not always convincing enough and it is grower experience and the sharing of that experience that has been the most powerful tool in the uptake of ferric phosphate.
It has a completely different mode of action to metaldehyde, which, once ingested by the slug triggers the excess production of mucus, causing it to dehydrate and die on the soil surface.
The resulting slime trials and dead bodies gave growers the visual assurance of its efficacy.
The greatest challenge for ferric phosphate uptake was helping farmers understand that it would not provide such glaring evidence but instead acted in a more discreet manner.
When a slug ingests a Sluxx HP or Menorexx pellet, the chelating agent helps to get the active substance into two vital parts – the crop and the hepatopancreas, or digestive organ.
With the crop the first to be breached, this stops the slug feeding, but it may still take some time before it reaches the digestive organ to deliver the lethal blow.
During this period, slugs often retreat down the soil profile before death, so evidence of control is not direct. Instead, growers must keep a close eye on their crops and see the evidence that feeding damage has stopped.
The process of educating growers and agronomists of its credentials was given a helping hand by the very wet and high-pressure year of 2012, when many cereal growers exhausted their permitted number of metaldehyde and methiocarb applications.
With the slug onslaught continuing, many were forced to try Sluxx HP for the first time and found it worked just as well.
Five years later, helped by the withdrawal of methiocarb in 2015, ferric phosphate had already captured 30-40% of the molluscicide market.
Today, with metaldehyde gone too, Certis Belchim and competitor ferric phosphate pellets represent almost all molluscicide sales and show how biological plant protection products – with the right development and market engagement – can be a roaring success.
It certainly reinforces the belief that our Growing for the Future initiative will help break some old habits and accelerate uptake of biological PPPs in a whole range of crops, helping to deliver on several key sustainability targets for agriculture today.
Supporting the customer and helping them use the product correctly is also crucial to successful slug control.
The launch of the Certis Belchim calibration wizard is a great example, allowing operators to quickly and easily set up their applicator for the accurate spreading of our product range.
Hopefully, this will create another new and positive routine on farms so that application is given the attention it deserves.