This is a modal window.
Efrain Velasco, technical director of Lloyd Pest Control in San Diego, Calif., wrote April PCT’s “IPM Insights” column. IPM Insights is a column contributed by members of the Urban Pest Management Technical Committee.
In that column Velasco discussed what pest management professionals in California did prior to and following the state’s January 2021 enactment of AB 1788, which restricted most uses of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides. This created quite a challenge for companies like Lloyd Pest Control, which has tens of thousands of rodent bait stations throughout six counties in Southern California.
Knowing that this restriction was coming Velasco and Lloyd Pest Control put a plan in place. In this podcast, Velasco shared some of what he's learned having gone through the process.
Below is the transcription from the podcast.
Brad Harbison: Hi, everyone. I'm Brad Harbison. Thanks for joining us for our latest podcast. My guest today is Efrain Velasco, the technical director of Lloyd Pest Control in San Diego, California. Efrain wrote the April PCT “IPM Insights” column, and that's a column that's contributed by members of the Urban Pest Management Technical Committee. So in that column, Efrain discussed what pest management professionals in California did prior to and following the state's enactment of AB 1788 in January 2021. AB 1788 restricted most uses of second-generation anti-coagulant rodenticides. And so this created challenges for companies like Lloyd Pest Control, which, as Efrain noted in the article, has tens of thousands of rodent bait stations throughout six counties in Southern California. And so, knowing that restriction was coming, Efrain and Lloyd pest Control put a plan in place. So in our podcast today, Efrain is going to share some of what he learned, having gone through that process. Efrain, thanks for joining me today.
Efrain Velasco: Well, thank you. I appreciate the invitation.
Brad Harbison: Efrain, in the article, you had mentioned the importance of being involved in associations. How did being a part of MPMA and PCOC (the Pest Control Operators of California) prove beneficial once the rodenticide restrictions were put in place, as I mentioned on January 21?
Efrain Velasco: Yeah, that was huge. So we're an active member of both the National Pest Management Association as well as our state association. And this happened to be a state law. And the thing that really helped us is we knew, first of all, advocacy up at the state level. You know, that there's advocacy that PCOC does. And also just knowing what's going on. So we've known through PCOC the comings and goings of this bill and the different iterations of the bill for the for ordinance. But it was four or five years that this kept popping up. So we kind of had an idea that this was coming, and that was all because we were active members of PCOC. And it also gave me an opportunity and a chance to talk to other people that are in the same association with me. Smaller and bigger companies, kind of talking about what the potential is of this passing, what are they doing to make sure that we're all. You know, following the law as it's written. So it's huge. I mean, just being a member, being active, just knowing what's going on, preparing for what's going on. And then the advocacy part of that…you’ve got to be a member. You have to know what's going on. You've got to know what's going on because changes are inevitable.
Brad Harbison: And then, after having gathered all that information and done all that work through the associations, the next step was putting a plan in place. Can you talk a little bit about that? What all was involved with that plan that Lloyd put in place in terms of using alternative rodent control products?
Efrain Velasco: Well, four years prior to the passing of the bill, we knew what the plan or what the bill was going to look like roughly. And then, you know, this is something that's been kind of been tried and it kept getting shut down. And so we knew what the original plan was and we knew kind of the way that it kept move. And so the way that lawmakers got tweaking it. So we knew that second gens were kind of the focus when we knew that. So what we did prior to that is that we we started using or trying out different products that are not second gens. So we we just took a look at everything that was out there. So I did have conversations with all of our reps. So all the major manufacturers that they had conversations about that just got a break and know what is out there. And I am this California. So just because something is out there does not necessarily mean that's registered in the state of California. So those relationships with the reps there, that's crucial to it because they also know what's going on. This is their business and they have a lot of insight and they know the products in and out. And so we took a look out pretty much every product that we potentially could be using if that bill passed and ended up passing.
Brad Harbison: And then can you talk about what did Lloyd Pest Control do in terms of training and retraining technicians and updating its service protocols?
Efrain Velasco: Oh yeah. So what we didn't want to do, what I think would have been a mistake for us to do is just pick a different product and just go at it. Business as usual. That's what we did not want to do. It would have been easy enough just to say, hey, his first chance or get kicked out or don't. So we took a step back and we reevaluated our remote control program. And so, you know, we primarily 60% residential, 7% in commercial, something like that. So that was a big chunk of our business. So what we did is we went back and took a look at just how we are doing the work. We wanted to make sure that we rolled in, Integrated Pest Management, where the IPM principles into this. We went back and kind of designed a plan. And one of the big things is that we took a step back to do is what we call exclusion report and something that we've been doing for a long period of time. Now we're using some software to do it that helps us do it takes pictures and gets a decent report out to our customers. We wanted to highlight, you know, keeping rodents out rather than having to just come back in and put materials out. We want to make sure that we protected our customers' properties and not let them into begin with or knock something down and make it more of a permanent thing than just say it's going to work for a couple months and then can go back in.
So we rewrote our program. We focused on our exclusion report. We did a bunch of training at our branch offices for exclusion that I think that is going to be the wave of the future for rodent control moving forward. So I wanted to make sure that everybody from our control staff to our supervisors to our every day room technicians knew how to do some really basic execution work. We also got we were lucky enough to also have a termite department or part of where pest control goes to remote control. We have repair staff, so our absolute whizzes at doing this kind of thing. Maybe they weren't as involved. Now we're trying to get them a little bit more involved and do some of this. So we leave it primarily to supervisors doing such a work. There's a lot of really basic stuff, easy stuff that we should be doing. It's easier for us to go out and do something really basic, very easy, that is struggle on a trip out and provide that travel time for two weeks after, you know, 32 travel can turn into 40, 50, 60 day trap. That's really quickly. And if we just set some really basic stuff in our drugs for every one of our technicians to use and make sure like these are.
So we took a step back. We did some retraining with the exclusion report. We focused on exclusion itself and made sure that everyone was clear that, you know, these are really basic, simple things that we can all do to help us get to that end, which is right and free a rodent free account. So given the fact that we have nine different practice, it took a little while to kind of build this program. The software that took a little while, we wanted to make sure that it's something that our customers can easily see and make sure that we had something in their hand so we can show our customers that these are the areas that we're pointing out needs to be sealed up or whatever the case may be. And then we need to make sure that we're able to do that work as well. So that took a little while. And honestly, that was when the bill passed. It didn't get passed this October or it was only a couple of months that we had before the end of 21. Before the start, 21, I'm sorry. So we went ahead and made sure that we switched up the materials down during that whole same process, same time. And it took us a bit longer to do this. We revamped our program, focused on exclusion, make sure that everyone's got the right equipment, and make sure that we have the software in place to provide that with the report. So that's a little bit more time. Training is going to take a lot more time. I think we're a better spot now.
Brad Harbison: It's kind of interesting. It's almost like in some respects the restriction had a good effect on the company in that it forced you to review your protocols and practices. This is a good thing to do periodically anyways and this sort of forced you to do it.
Efrain Velasco: Oh yeah. And I thought we had a pretty decent program for now. But we took the opportunity to revamp what we're doing, focus on exclusion. These are important things to look and report out and look at what we're doing every day to try to make sure that nothing fall through the cracks. And we've had a few of those, you know, things up on the cracks. You don't set up appointments correctly. So we took a look at the whole thing as and at one time. Yeah, so it's been an ongoing process and it is now something that we're confident looking at rather than, hey, we're just going to go out traps are it. But whatever the case may be now we're constantly looking at how do I streamline this? I don't make. Better. How do we communicate better with customers? Because that sometimes can be a challenge. Challenging is making sure that customer knows exactly what we're doing and how we're doing it and what their responsibilities are that we're going to have.
Brad Harbison: And and that actually really leads into my next question. Being out in California. From everything we understand, people maybe are a little bit more in tuned as to some of the issues with rodenticides because they have had those issues with the secondary poisoning, with the mountain lions and so forth. And it's it's been a little more high profile out there. So what is the message that Lloyd technicians are sharing with their customers, clients or just folks that they encounter about the rodenticide issue and how Lloyd Pest control goes about rodent work?\
Efrain Velasco: Well, it kind of depends on what accounts we're talking about. All the times what we're doing is we're trap. We use a lot. We still do a lot of trapping when we still do trapping traps have been around for 50 years in pest control. We still do a lot of that and exclusion. I think the materials like the base stations that we're using, we're using as protection around the structures, usually for apartments and businesses, things like that. But really we focus on exclusion, we focus on trapping. Yes, we use a lot of materials. I didn't want a technician to go into a lot of detail with every customer. You know, when this first came about, we had several complete confusion by the general public thinking that all rodenticides were being banned. So I know that we got several complaints and the county AG in California does enforcement and they know that we went through several investigations and we were fine. We switch out the rat products, but I needed to just make sure that they understood what a first gen is, what a second gen is, what acute toxin concern, what we are doing to protect non-target, you know, like dogs, you know, that kind of thing. How we're putting out the base stations and where we're putting the base station. So I just want them to know what the stuff is, how that stuff works, and how we can best mitigate anything from getting into that station. I think the big thing is that I try to drive home with them and every one of our technicians has the ability to move a space station, put it in another area, or when we're setting up stuff and we want to react. Usually for us, the supervisors go out there and they can nix putting our base stations if they feel it's unsafe, that there's something going on and they feel like this is not a good spot for our safety wise, they have every right to either not put it up or send it out to some like trap stations, but there are options. So I needed them all to understand what they were using, how we're using it. I would try and make sure that not targets don't get into this, that that kind of stuff. So I don't know that our technicians really talked a lot with the general public as we get phone calls to the hub or to the office here for that. But as far as our customers go, for the most part, like I said, it's it's really telling our customers about how we can get them now and keep them from coming in in the future.
Brad Harbison: In the article, you also just kind of briefly touched on the fact that, hey, there's these newly proposed EPA mitigation measures for rodenticides that were announced late last year. can you talk about some of the plans that that your company is kind of exploring in anticipation of these possible changes?
Efrain Velasco: Yeah, that's always hard because you don't know what the end result is going to look like. And I know that I've been on a couple conversations with the California Structural Pest Control Board. That's our regulartor. And we you know, California's already done its thing, but I don't know what the federal laws are going to look like. And I looked at some of the proposed stuff and some of it I think is already covered by what we do in the state of California. So like there was a couple of I'm not off the top of my head now. I should have had part of education. No problem. That is not a problem at all. I am we are perfectly happy. We do this ongoing training in every branch every month. So that's not a big deal.
The carcass part where we had to go retrieve carcasses. Now that's a challenge - something that I am trying to wrap my head around. How that's going to work out in the field. I have no clue how that's going to look like, how we're going to put out some bait stations and then have to come back out there and remove carcasses that we don't see. And I don't think that when we ever find or see anything carcass anywhere, there was always additional PPE requirements. I know there was a couple of things, not all the rodenticides. So, I mean, I've already kind of played with different products. So we're trying out different things in different product. That's something we do continuously. So I mean, the hard part is you just don't know. You just don't know what that's going to look like. So it's hard to kind of wrap your head around the plan, but it is things like when when AB 1780 actually got passed on that we already had an idea like what it was going to look like. So I had something that I could, in my mind plan that I think pretty much mirrored what actually get passed right now. With the federal government? I really don't know. I think it's still a little early in the process, but we still need to make sure that we're on top of it and make sure that we're still doing our program and some of it honestly, just in California. So it's all the same stuff that I would do anyway.
Brad Harbison: So. Efrain, thanks again for joining us and sharing with our readers some of the experiences Lloyd Pest Control has had as they've kind of been navigating this whole issue with rodenticides this past couple of years.
Latest from Pest Control Technology
- How to Get Rid of Odorous House Ants
- Massey Services Promotes Herndon to Director of Sales for Multi-Family Division
- NPMA Announces First Recipients of NPMA PRO Certified Credential
- Pestmaster of the Hudson Valley Acquires Catskill Animal Damage Control
- Photo Slideshow: Ant Identification Tips
- Video: Top 10 PCT Photo Contest Finalists
- UF/IFAS Study Reveals Boats as Perfect Vessels for Global Termite Spread
- Pest Control Consultants (Iowa) Earns Pinnacle Performance Award
