Barricor – SP Offers a Cost-Effective Control Option for Pest Management Professionals Treating Complex Surfaces

Complex surfaces represent a significant challenge for pest management professionals. Why? If the proper formulation is not used in or around accounts where complex surfaces are present, insecticide performance is compromised, resulting in more callbacks and reduced margins for your company.

This is particularly true in high-maintenance accounts where frequent application of insecticides increases the cost of labor and materials, making product efficacy even more essential. As a result, it’s important for technicians to understand the difference between porous and nonporous surfaces. Examples of porous surfaces include concrete, mulch and gravel. Nonporous surfaces include glass, ceramic tile and stainless steel.

Why should your technicians care? Numerous studies have shown emulsifiable concentrate (EC) formulations are absorbed into porous surfaces, making the active ingredient unavailable to crawling insect pests. Fortunately for cost-conscious PMPs, the Pest Management & Public Health (PMPH) business of Bayer, within the company's Crop Science division, recently introduced its newest product: Barricor™– SP, an affordable innovation for frequent maintenance applications on complex surfaces. 

“While Bayer is known for our high-end, specialty innovations that tackle customers’ toughest pest problems, we’re also proud to offer solutions to support the frequent service requirements of PMPs who just need to keep the usual-suspect pests at bay during regular services,” said Joe Barile, Technical Service Lead for Bayer Pest Management & Public Health. “We’re especially proud of Barricor because it offers an alternative to economy sprays and enables us to deliver innovation to PMPs who might not have leveraged Bayer products in the past.” 

A VALUABLE NEW TOOL. A former PMP himself, Barile said he “grew up” treating restaurants, hospitals, multi-family housing and other high-maintenance accounts on a monthly basis, frequently moving outdoors to perform perimeter treatments as a way to prevent pest entry into structures.

“With a broad label for both indoor and outdoor use and no signal word, Barricor is a workhorse product that is well suited for a variety of treatment situations,” Barile said. Nearly 10 years in development, Barricor features the proven active ingredient deltamethrin in an innovative “solid particle” (SP) formulation that delivers superior performance on gravel, mulch, concrete and more.

“The fundamental challenge when we go outdoors is the physical and chemical composition of the surfaces where we’re placing residual insecticides,” Barile said. “For instance, stucco is extremely alkaline and alkalinity is not good for insecticides. Mulch is also extremely porous and absorptive, but Barricor has been formulated to resist being absorbed by porous surfaces, so the active ingredient remains readily bioavailable.”

Bioavailability is an important product attribute for Bob Russell, president of American Pest Solutions, Springfield, Mass. “Some products get absorbed too easily and aren’t readily available to insects walking across treated surfaces,” he said. “ECs, for instance, are a thing of the past because they have poor bioavailability on many surfaces. The early data on Barricor, however, looks good because it stays on the surface and remains readily available.”

That’s because Barricor – SP, introduced to the pest management industry in mid-March, features an innovative solid particle formulation technology that enables the active ingredient to remain elevated on complex, porous surfaces, making it more bio-available to pests. And this elevated performance comes at a similar cost-per-home to bifenthrin-based products, according to the manufacturer.

“Pest management professionals need an affordable alternative for their frequent service accounts that gets the job done right – and Barricor delivers. The new high-performance, low-dose-rate formulation was designed specifically with these frequent maintenance accounts in mind,” said Dave Braness, Customer Marketing Manager for Household Health within the Bayer PMPH business. “We’re proud to help sustain and protect this business model for those PMPs who rely on bifenthrin-based products to support their operations.”  

REGULATORY RELIEF. With the changing business landscape, including ever-present regulatory pressure, pest control operators need better options for their frequent maintenance accounts, according to Bayer. In such instances, Barricor is an efficacious and economical alternative to bifenthrin-based products, Barile said. “Our R&D staff have been working more than a decade to optimize formulation science based on some of the market pressures being experienced by PMPs,” he said, including the issues of run-off and the environmental fate of pesticides. 

“There’s still a large group of PMPs, particularly in those areas of the United States with intense pest pressure, that service accounts on a monthly or every-other-month basis who are encountering these challenges,” Barile said. “Barricor satisfies a lot of the issues relating to runoff and environmental fate. As a result, PMPs are able to maintain their service frequency at rates that are still quite low.”

Russell, a Board Certified Entomologist (BCE) and fourth-generation pest management professional, says concerns about run-off and the environmental fate of pesticides are always an issue, but it’s up to the PMP to choose the best product for the job and ensure industry best practices are followed when servicing an account. “Barricor applied as a low-pressure spray around the perimeter of structures is an excellent alternative for treating a variety of complex surfaces in high-maintenance accounts,” he observed.

“Unfortunately, there are companies out there that aren’t concerned about particle size or application best practices. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about that with our company; we’re not creating run-off situations.”

Customers and PMPs alike also appreciate the fact that Barricor features no signal word and doesn’t require personal protective equipment (PPE) to apply. “As customers see their service provider applying an insecticide without a face shield, long-sleeved shirt or gloves, it can give them peace of mind,” Barile said.

And peace of mind goes a long way towards attracting and retaining customers, regardless of the account. “Our goal is to provide PMPs with a premium product at a value-oriented price point that allows them to address pest problems in high-maintenance accounts in a convenient, cost-effective fashion,” Barile said. “Barricor is the first new liquid formulation in quite some time, so we’re excited to see how it will be received by the marketplace.”

For more information about Barricor – SP, visit es.bayer.us/barricor or contact your Bayer sales representative. 

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