Pest management is a perennial task in food-processing environments. The pests of concern may vary, but span all food-processing segments, rodents take top billing as a pest of concern. Across North America, pest management experts have noted an uptick in rodent activity in the warm weather months of 2019 — levels typically seen in the fall. Unfortunately, this could mean an increase in rodent issues for processors this fall and winter.
What’s behind the rodent boom? A combination of factors: construction in urban areas, continued land development, warmer winters that don’t allow for a natural die-off of pests and a general malaise about structural and sanitation concerns that attract rodents.