1 Cover.cdr - Pest Control Management - Basf

SURVEYMood of the industryWhat pest controllers getup to at workRodent control takes up around half of all pest controllers' time with wasps also a significantactivity. Despite all the hype about bed bugs they still only scored 5% (4% in 2011).Local authorities are even more focused on rats and mice (60%) with wasps taking up arounda fifth of the local authority workload. Interestingly, whilst bed bugs only account for 4% oflocal authority pest management activity, 94% of all local authorities in the survey do getinvolved in some bed bug work, that is up from 88% in the 2011 survey. 89% of localauthorities also do some cockroach work even though, once again, this represents a small(4%) of their total workload.Self-employed pest controllers spend a fifth of their time dealing with wasps. But rodent controlis their biggest activity with rats (24%) and mice (19%). Some 14% of the self-employed pestcontrollers' workload is tackling other problem mammals – rabbits, moles, foxes and so on.Only around half of this group do any bed bug work, with a similar proportion involved incockroach control and bird management.Bird management is more likely to be undertaken by private companies. It accounts for 10% oftheir activities and 78% of this group have some involvement in bird management. Privatecompanies also spend a lot of time dealing with rodents (45% split 50:50 between rats andmice) and wasps (11%). This group also has the biggest involvement in bed bug control, whichaccounts for 7% of their activity, with over 80% of the companies in the survey doing somesort of bed bug work. This is an increase over the 2011 survey which showed 70% wereinvolved in bed bug control.© ODA8%6%5%5%5%4%3%17%27%21%Activities bypest typeAll repliesRatsMiceWaspsOther mammalsBirdsOther insectsBed bugsAntsCockroachesOthersTreatment costsFormostjobstimeaccountsforaroundtwothirdsof the treatment cost, which meanstravel, product and other costs are typicallyless than 33%.Time spent as proportionof total treatment costAll repliesRatsMiceCockroachesBed bugs66%66%65%69%Future growthLookingatthewaypestcontrollersseetheirworkchanginginfuture the survey found:Bed bug control continues to be the area of work most pest controllerspredict will be increasing in the future. Notably, more private companies sawthis as a growth activity compared to the self-employed and local authorities.Far more of the self-employed predict an increase in rat and mouse control work thaneither private companies or local authorities.Theself-employedforeseeothermammalcontrolworkasmoreofagrowthareathanprivate companies, while a net 15% of local authorities see this activity reducing.The self-employed also see better prospects for increasing wasp control work than eitheroftheothertwogroups.In contrast, bird management work is seen as a particular growth area by privatecompanies.Reasonable growth in insect control activity is foreseen by both the self-employed andprivate companies, but a net 7% of local authorities see a reduction in this activity.Changes expected in pest control activitiesNet % increases predictedAll replies65% 66%2012 201149% 50%44%40%37% 34% 32%25% 27%36%Bed bugs Rats Mice Birds Wasps Othermammals8 pestwww.pestmagazine.co.uk May & June 2012