Protect-It has a newly amended pesticide registration that allows the stored grain insecticide to be applied to all grains, not just wheat.
But if farmers apply the product at rates recommended by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, they may affect test weights, says Canadian Grain Commission entomologist Blaine Timlick.
Protect-It is a diatomaceous earth insecticide that treats stored grain against infestations of bugs like the rusty grain beetle. Since 1996 it has only been registered for use on wheat. Now all grains and seeds can be treated with the odorless, non-toxic substance.
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But Timlick said this isn’t a concession from Health Canada so much as a new marketing strategy from Hedley Technologies Inc., the Mississauga, Ont., based company that manufactures and sells the product.
Instead of trying to receive a new registration from the PMRA that would allow farmers to apply the insecticide in smaller doses on crops like barley and rye, Timlick said, the company has decided to use existing diatomaceous earth regulations that call for higher doses of Protect-It to be applied to all grains other than wheat.
Incorrect weights
The problem, according to Timlick, who worked as a contractor for Hedley before joining the grain commission, is that these higher application rates can lead to erroneous test weights. Wheat requires an application rate of 100 parts per million or 100 grams per tonne. The other crops require rates ranging from 500 to 1,000 parts per million or 500 to 1,000 grams per tonne.
“At a hundred parts per million you were just starting to see test weight changes, but they were not quite enough to remove something that was a good 1CW into the two category. Borderline … yes it would,” Timlick said.
The president and chief executive officer of Hedley Technologies admits the product can cause test weight changes, but RenŽ Goehrum said producers can follow technical specifications on the Protect-It package to blend out grains and alleviate those problems.
He also said the product is effective at lower rates than suggested by the PMRA. In the United States the product is registered for barley at a rate of 150 parts per million instead of the 500 ppm suggested here. He encouraged producers to contact the company to ask about proper rates.
The reason Protect-It kills bugs is the same reason it affects test weights.
The sticky earth adheres to and absorbs the waxy protective outer coating of pests, which causes death through dehydration. The product works well, especially on rusty grain beetles, which account for 90 percent of stored pest infestations.
But it also creates sticky grain. Because kernels cling together, fewer make it through the volume containers and fewer kernels means less weight.
“Try and put a grain probe into grain that’s treated with 500 parts diatomaceous earth and I guarantee you, you’d think you’re going to be sticking a shovel in concrete,” Timlick said.
He said the company has created an effective, long-lasting product to combat infestations. Now it needs to figure out how to keep the application rate down and the kill rate above 95 percent. It should also work on application methods, Timlick said.
“I’m unaware of any device available to apply these products to grain except to drip it out of a bag or throw it on with a spoon or something and that’s awkward.”
When Protect-it is applied at excess rates, it can burn the belt off an auger in a hurry, Timlick said.
Goehrum said application products are available, but farmers don’t want to spend the $400 to buy them. So the company has included a scoop in every five-kilogram box.
Protect-It has a suggested retail price of $49 a case and is sold by most major input suppliers in Canada except Agricore.
