Fire ants in pasture

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MillennialRancher

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In my area we have fire ants bad. Some of my neighbors fields you can't take 10 steps without landing in a mound of red dirt. It's especially bad in pasture that is severely over grazed and overstocked. I've noticed over the past 8 months since we took the cattle off our land and let the pastures recover that the fire ants have died down and migrated to my fence lines which I keep sprayed. I guess it's because they don't like taller grass?

Does anyone else have this problem? What are you using to mitigate this issue? Do the fire ants pose any threat or cause any problems other than being a massive eye sore?
 
It's crazy but my two pastures are on each side of a small hill. The east side is covered with them while the west has very few. It won't be much longer until I'm spot spraying with Bifen I/T.
 
MillennialRancher":15z9cyhw said:
In my area we have fire ants bad. Some of my neighbors fields you can't take 10 steps without landing in a mound of red dirt. It's especially bad in pasture that is severely over grazed and overstocked. I've noticed over the past 8 months since we took the cattle off our land and let the pastures recover that the fire ants have died down and migrated to my fence lines which I keep sprayed. I guess it's because they don't like taller grass?

Does anyone else have this problem? What are you using to mitigate this issue? Do the fire ants pose any threat or cause any problems other than being a massive eye sore?

Yes, im also having this issue here in NW Georgia, Ive tried diatomaceous earth last year with no luck. I guess ill try the Extinguish Plus next.
 
Georiga_JR":11omoxfe said:
MillennialRancher":11omoxfe said:
In my area we have fire ants bad. Some of my neighbors fields you can't take 10 steps without landing in a mound of red dirt. It's especially bad in pasture that is severely over grazed and overstocked. I've noticed over the past 8 months since we took the cattle off our land and let the pastures recover that the fire ants have died down and migrated to my fence lines which I keep sprayed. I guess it's because they don't like taller grass?

Does anyone else have this problem? What are you using to mitigate this issue? Do the fire ants pose any threat or cause any problems other than being a massive eye sore?

Yes, im also having this issue here in NW Georgia, Ive tried diatomaceous earth last year with no luck.
DE for fire ants?
Why???

The only place you will see claiming DE kills fire ants are those places that mine or sell it.
(and no.. grits won't work either)
 
greybeard":2yaxt1gt said:
Georiga_JR":2yaxt1gt said:
MillennialRancher":2yaxt1gt said:
In my area we have fire ants bad. Some of my neighbors fields you can't take 10 steps without landing in a mound of red dirt. It's especially bad in pasture that is severely over grazed and overstocked. I've noticed over the past 8 months since we took the cattle off our land and let the pastures recover that the fire ants have died down and migrated to my fence lines which I keep sprayed. I guess it's because they don't like taller grass?

Does anyone else have this problem? What are you using to mitigate this issue? Do the fire ants pose any threat or cause any problems other than being a massive eye sore?

Yes, im also having this issue here in NW Georgia, Ive tried diatomaceous earth last year with no luck.
DE for fire ants?
Why???

The only place you will see claiming DE kills fire ants are those places that mine or sell it.
(and no.. grits won't work either)
Probably did not use the ACV in conjunction with DE like all the organic nuts do.
 
Extinguish works pretty good. If you'll go to a ag dealer most have loaner herd seeders to spread it. You can use it on anything with a hitch receiver and 12 volt battery. Regular dragging or light discing helps as well.
 
M-5":f1xetg5s said:
greybeard":f1xetg5s said:
Georiga_JR":f1xetg5s said:
Yes, im also having this issue here in NW Georgia, Ive tried diatomaceous earth last year with no luck.
DE for fire ants?
Why???

The only place you will see claiming DE kills fire ants are those places that mine or sell it.
(and no.. grits won't work either)
Probably did not use the ACV in conjunction with DE like all the organic nuts do.
Ah....that explains it. I forgot you have to use ACV with it or swing a dead cat round your head while you're sprinkling the DE.
(tho IF de did work, I'd buy a dump truck load of it)
 
Try to get your hands on some Regent. Not labeled for use in Georgia any more but last I checked you could get it in Florida. A jug used to be around $1300 but the rate is only 1 oz/ac so it will cover around 320 acres. Which based on $1300/jug equivalates about $4/ac. If you can get ahold to some you won't have any problems getting rid of the extra. Works like a charm. Taurus works good too. But doesn't have the residual that Regent does.
 
JMJ Farms":1xcgx78p said:
Try to get your hands on some Regent. Not labeled for use in Georgia any more but last I checked you could get it in Florida. A jug used to be around $1300 but the rate is only 1 oz/ac so it will cover around 320 acres. Which based on $1300/jug equivalates about $4/ac. If you can get ahold to some you won't have any problems getting rid of the extra. Works like a charm. Taurus works good too. But doesn't have the residual that Regent does.
You are mistaken. They have the same active ingredient (fipronil) and therefore the same residual. Taurus is 9.1% fipronil and Regent is 39% fipronil. For Regent use 1 oz per acre and Taurus 4 oz/ac. You can get a 78 oz jug of Taurus for not much over $100. Keeps fire ants away for at least 12 months. I used probably a half dozen jugs of it last spring and haven't seen a fire ant yet where it was sprayed.
 
ga.prime":juhzh2yr said:
JMJ Farms":juhzh2yr said:
Try to get your hands on some Regent. Not labeled for use in Georgia any more but last I checked you could get it in Florida. A jug used to be around $1300 but the rate is only 1 oz/ac so it will cover around 320 acres. Which based on $1300/jug equivalates about $4/ac. If you can get ahold to some you won't have any problems getting rid of the extra. Works like a charm. Taurus works good too. But doesn't have the residual that Regent does.
You are mistaken. They have the same active ingredient (fipronil) and therefore the same residual. Taurus is 9.1% fipronil and Regent is 39% fipronil. For Regent use 1 oz per acre and Taurus 4 oz/ac. You can get a 78 oz jug of Taurus for not much over $100. Keeps fire ants away for at least 12 months. I used probably a half dozen jugs of it last spring and haven't seen a fire ant yet where it was sprayed.

I did not realize that. Possibly bc I wasn't using enough Taurus. That's good to know though bc Taurus is readily available.
 
DCA farm":2xl1r3kf said:
I use a powder called surrender takes a spoonful to kill the whole mound. Seven dust will also kill them.
I've used it, and it's the same ingredient as Ortho Orthene and several others uses. Acephate.

Yes, it gets rid of the mound, almost overnight BUT...
Maybe it's just MY fire ants and maybe it's just a coincidence, but seems odd, that every time I treat a mound, within a couple of days (sometimes the next day) a new mound appears within a 10' radius of the one I just treated.
 
greybeard":2n3h9m3c said:
DCA farm":2n3h9m3c said:
I use a powder called surrender takes a spoonful to kill the whole mound. Seven dust will also kill them.
I've used it, and it's the same ingredient as Ortho Orthene and several others uses. Acephate.

Yes, it gets rid of the mound, almost overnight BUT...
Maybe it's just MY fire ants and maybe it's just a coincidence, but seems odd, that every time I treat a mound, within a couple of days (sometimes the next day) a new mound appears within a 10' radius of the one I just treated.

I've HEARD, not verified through experimentation of my own..... that you can take a shovel full of Mound 1 and put it in Mound 2, or vice versa, and they will kill each other. If true, this method would be feasible in a yard, but not in a pasture.
 
Major problem here too. I've used Amdro, Bengal and now using Talstar liquid. Amdro and Bengal are hit % miss. Sometimes you kill the mound and sometimes it just moves.
 
Brother of one of my former next-door neighbors is Dr. J.T. Vogt, one of the leading experts on fire ants in the US, now with the USDA Forest Service. Some years back, he and I had a discussion on myths involving control/eradication of 'far aints'. Here's what he sent me:

Re: fire ants...here are a few samples of weird control methods I've managed to gather over time (actual products):

Ant E-Vacuator (vacuum device with an impeller to crush the ants as they pass through it)

Yaardvark (electric shock device)

McCoy Ant Stomper (windmill driven device to disturb the mound and crush the ants with a roller)

Grits (the uninformed don't realize that worker ants don't eat solid food, thus they won't blow up if you put grits on the mound; they just carry them into the mound and feed them to the larvae, which CAN process solid food - but they do so, and provide nourishing liquid food to the workers.)

The "Solar Ant Charmer" (look it up on the internet, they'll send you a free video)

Various explosive devices

The "Queen Stomper" (kind of like a 5-footed cane you smush down into the mound)

Injectors (forget the names)

Gas (of course)--the kicker is I have a couple news articles about people burning the porches off their houses trying this

Various other mechanical devices
 
Its so wet here the ants have to have their mounds high above the ground else they will drown. I've been going out of my way putting the wheel of the tractor on the mounds and it just pushes the whole mound underground/underwater. I know it doesn't kill the whole mound but I'm pretty sure I take out thousands each time I do this but whether I'm right or wrong it gives me a warm feeling when I smash them.
 

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