BAIT SALES OVERVIEW:
The San Luis Obispo County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office continues to act as an outlet for the two CDFA labeled oat groat based rodenticide baits: 0.01% Chlorophacinone and 0.005% Diphacinone rodenticides due to the lack of availability of comparable products from the usual private sector sources. Mandatory surcharges (50 cents per pound of bait sold) collected by our department and other Ag Commissioners throughout the state generate revenue that provides funding to CDFA for vertebrate control research and the continuation of the CDFA product registration.
On October 31, 2003 we limited the sale of 0.005% Diphacinone to strictly production agriculturalists. In the past, we produced sub packaged units of five and ten pounds of 0.005% Diphacinone for home use. We discontinued this practice because many products designed for home use are widely available, at comparable prices, through retail hardware stores, nurseries and agricultural supply outlets. In the near future the registration renewal for these products will most likely require purchasers to have a Restricted Materials Permit from our office. (Restricted Material Permits are issued to production agriculturalists intending to use a “restricted material”).
Retail bait sales and educational outreach and training are dictated by customer requests. Utilizing our clerical, Agricultural Technician, and Agricultural Inspector/Biologist staff, information requests are handled as they come in via phone, email, or customer walk-in.
We will periodically evaluate customer demand and the appropriateness of our role as supplier of the CDFA labeled 0.01% Chlorophacinone and 0.005% Diphacinone baits. See the attached “Rodenticide (Bait Sales) Analysis” completed in 2004 for more information.
CDFA BAIT LABELS:
BAIT SURCHARGE EXPLANATION:
To address the vertebrate pest problem in the state, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) maintains the registration of field use rodenticides that are sold by county agricultural commissioner offices. The San Luis Obispo County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office currently sells two such products. These products are 0.005 % Diphacinone treated oats, EPA Reg. No. 10965-50001ZA, and 0.01% Chlorophacinone treated oats, EPA Reg. No. 10965-50006ZA.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informed CDFA that additional data is required for each new and existing pesticide regarding toxicity, use, and environmental fate of its Zinc Phosphide and anticoagulant baits. Research projects costing up to $100,000 were now required in order for continued use of these products in agriculture.
A bill was passed in 1990 by the California Legislature to address this issue. This bill called for a 50 cent per pound surcharge to be collected for all bait sold, distributed, or applied by county agricultural commissioner offices within the state. The bill specified that all funds stemming from this surcharge to be used for the research required to maintain current registrations, to improve existing rodenticides, and to find new materials and methods to solve vertebrate pest problems. The bill also established an external advisory committee known as the Vertebrate Pest Control Research Advisory Committee (VPCRAC)www.vpcrac.org. This committee sets priorities for vertebrate pest research projects that should be funded.
The surcharge program has been effective in funding research to meet its primary objectives to:
- Maintain current CDFA rodenticide registration
- Improve the use of existing materials
- Expand our knowledge about controlling vertebrate pests
- Find alternative control materials and strategies
* All information sited from The Vertebrate Pest Review, Volume 1, No. 1, 2000