One of our NCSU Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources faculty members, Dr. Robert Bardon, spoke earlier this month about cost-share programs available to woodland owners. “Cost-share” means that some agency pays part – not all – of the costs for something you do.

If you have woodlands and are thinking of doing some kind of work in them (thinning, tree release, prescribed burning, replanting, etc.), I suggest calling the Natural Resources Conser-vation Service (318-6490) to see if they might be able to help with costs. There is an application process (you’ll be competing with others who request the same funds), and you’ll need an FSA number to apply (Farm Service Agency – 629-4449 ext. 2).

The N.C. Department of Forest Resources (879-1773) has had cost-share for site preparation and tree planting, under the Forest Development Program. Money for site preparation is gone until the middle of next year, but they do still have some left for tree planting. If you have pines and have more than 700 trees per acre, you may be able to get some money to help thin the stand to about 300 to 450 trees per acre, under the Southern Pine Beetle Protection Program.

Bardon repeatedly reminded people to get a forest management plan. A management plan from the local NCDFR folks or from a registered or consulting forester can help you make sound decisions about managing your woodlands, based on your goals. A management plan is required for applying for the cost-share programs mentioned and for getting into present use value taxation (another topic of our meeting – if you have 20 acres of woodlands and want lower taxes, give the tax office a call at 318-6500).



Fire ants here again

Fire ants have been a problem for some lately, so I’m going to write a little bit about them. If you want more information, give us a call or go to www.ces.ncsu.edu and search for “fire ants.”

Before you treat for fire ants, make sure you actually have them. Fire ant mounds don’t have holes in the top, and fire ants will crawl up vertical surfaces, like blades of grass. If you’ve been bitten and have a small blister (or, in special cases, have a severe reaction), they’re probably fire ants.

Fire ant mounds can extend to several feet down in the ground, so sprinkling an insecticide on the top of the mound or pouring a liquid one onto the mound may kill some of the ants at the top of the mound and cause others to just move. If mounds are in a place where vulnerable people (children, the elderly, etc.) are likely to get bitten, you may want to use what we call a contact insecticide or mound treatment since time is of the essence and long-term control is of secondary importance. You can come back and treat the new mounds that pop up later. If you use a liquid insecticide, make sure you use enough water to get it down into the mound well. You’ll probably need to use about one gallon of water for a mound six inches wide, two gallons for a mound that is a foot wide, etc. If it’s a granular insecticide, water it in well. Read and follow the label on whatever product you use.

Active ingredients to look for in these products include bifenthrin, carbarayl, cyfluthrin, L-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin, fipronil, d-limonene, and permethrin. Boiling or very hot water (two to three gallons) can work as a “contact insecticide” as well, but be careful not to burn yourself.

If you can afford to wait a little while for the ants to die off and are interested in long-term control, a bait is probably the way to go. Look for active ingredients like hydramethylnon, spinosad, and indoxacarb in products that claim to be fire ant baits.

The last one, indoxacarb, is supposed to be the fastest working of these, and you may see results within a few days. The others I mentioned may take several weeks to work. Methoprene is effective, as well, but it may take a period of months for you to see the effects. While it’s important to use water, in most cases, when using a contact insecticide, water is a definite no-no when using baits. Read the label to see how long you need to wait after rain or heavy dew. Apply baits around, but not on top of, fire ant mounds, and don’t disturb the mound before you treat it.

Those who want to get rid of the critters as soon as possible but don’t want to sacrifice long-term control can either use a product with indoxacarb or use what we call the two-step method: Put out a bait, wait five to seven days, and then put out a contact insecticide. The order to these steps, and the wait between treatments, are important.

If you have already put out a contact insecticide and now want to use a bait for long-term control, just wait until ants are active again. Test to see if they’re active enough by putting out a potato chip or a piece of hot dog or bait and check to see if the ants are all over it within thirty minutes.

For all of these products, it’s important to treat when ants are active. If they’re not near the top of the mound, a contact insecticide probably won’t have much effect, and, for baits to work, ants have to come out of the mounds and get baits, as they would food.

Well, that wasn’t so short after all, but those are what I consider the basics.



Mary Helen Ferguson is a horticulture agent with the Randolph County Center of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service in Asheboro. She can be reached at (336) 318-6000 or by e-mail at maryhelen_ferguson@ncsu.edu