Do you have problems with Snails? Introducing Imtrade’s Metakill

Over the years agriculture has progressively moved to more conservative farming practices, such as no-till, less burning and less tillage. Unfortunately, while this has improved soil structure and erosion, it has also created ideal habitats for snails. We have better soils, but we pay the price of these pests becoming more of a problem in our farming systems. Snails are an issue because of the damage they cause by eating emerging crops. If you’re wondering about the potential impact on your crop, look for typical evidence like chewed leaf margins and irregular holes. Cereal crops are likely to survive this, but damage to germinating canola and legumes when they’re at the cotyledon stage can mean crop failure. Snails need moisture to be active, so rainfall events usually trigger increased activity. Snail’s pace may seem slow, but in the right conditions, snails have been recorded to move up to 30m in a seven-day period. If they’re in high numbers, that’s quite a path of destruction. Snails will start reproducing in the period between April to September, which is why we suggest it’s best to bait prior to this egg-laying period to keep your crop snail free.

Note: As you may know from last year, due to costly plant upgrades, Meta Slug and Snail Bait from Cropcare (now merged with Nufarm) is no longer produced. We still have some remaining stocks of Meta for those that want to stick with the product. However, once these are gone, they’re gone.

So what snail and slug bait should we use in the future?

Apart from the generic supply of metaldehyde products, we think there’s potential for a product called Metakill to be a great fit to replace Meta. Metakill is made by Imtrade, and the baits are a higher loading active of Metaldehyde – 50g/kg compared to the 15g/ka of Meta. Metakill is also a smaller sized bait and a more compact pellet.

Key features of Metakill:

– Imtrade has made Metakill pellets highly resistant to weathering. Baits will be present in paddocks for longer, which will help prevent most re-baiting situations.
– The smaller pellet size means that there are more baits per square metre. Trials have shown that there are around 100,000 baits per kg of Metakill compared to 32,000 of Meta. This gives us a much higher number of baits per square metre. Having more baits per meter is important as snails have a higher chance of encountering them, and are able to consume them quickly.
– Being a higher loaded active, snails and slugs do not have to ingest as much bait for it to be effective.

Remember, if snails are a big issue for you it’s a good idea to have an integrated management plan to control them. This can be achieved by using baits, rolling/cabling stubbles or burning stubble. For more information on snail issues, get in contact with us today.