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For much of the country, such as us here in Michigan, spring means a lot of things.

A return to warmer weather, a lot more sunshine than we’re used to…and the return of some outdoor critters we haven’t seen since the weather started to turn.

And while the beauty of nature is always nice to see, we don’t exactly want it getting into our warehouses – particularly when we store food or other perishable items!

Pest control for food warehouses can be an adventure all on its own, even above and beyond the usual methods of trying to keep animals out of warehouses, as many other factors have to be taken into account, such as the safety of your workers and products.

 

Seasonal Pest Control for Food Warehousing

Start with the outside

While a lot of pest control methods focus on the inside of the warehouse, being aware of the area directly outside may actually prove to be a more effective start. To avoid attracting too many unwanted visitors, try to keep the immediate 50-foot area around the warehouse free of all litter, and avoid planting foliage too close to the building to avoid attracting rodents or insects. If you have to have a garden right around the building, filling the space between your plants and the actual warehouse with decorative rocks or gravel is a great way to help deter things like insects from laying their eggs too close to your food.

 

Frequent repair & maintenance

As the weather turns and those newborn insects wake up hungry again, they tend to start looking for any entrance they can into your warehouse to find themselves breakfast. One way to curb this is by making frequent checks around your facilities to make sure there’s no visible damage – cracks in walls, gaps in windows or doors, etc. Staying on top of these repairs will give the little pests one less chance to sneak into your warehouse.

 

Recognize pests’ calling cards

Of course, all the repaired doors in the world still won’t deter some of your little visitors, and constant vigilance will help you better understand what you’re dealing with. Are you seeing a lot of bite and scratch marks around a certain door? Looks like the mice have found their way in. Are there a lot of flying insects lingering in a specific area? You might just have yourself a window where flies can get in. It might take a little detective work, but it’s worth it.

 

Sterile storage options

Keeping your products safe from contamination or contact with unsafe products is always the first step towards protecting your products and customers, and this goes double for keeping pests out. A lot of pests are first attracted to things like mold or contamination, so by using sterile wire shelving or sterile MetroMax shelving you can keep your goods safer, and reduce their attraction to pests.

 

Constant food rotation

Finally, a great way to prevent pests from sticking around is to make sure the goods are as fresh as possible. Stick to a strict FIFO regimen and make sure your team knows to monitor the expiration dates of everything you store – as appealing as food can be to unwanted guests, they like spoiled food even more. Getting food out of the warehouse on time can not only keep your guests safe, it can also make it that much harder for our new friends to make a home in your products.

Pest control in food warehouses is a constant battle, but it can be won with vigilance and determination!

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