We are pleased to announce that the 2021/2022 membership fees have not increased for the 2021/2022 membership period.

The renewal invoices were sent to all members on the 1st February.  

SAVE TIME – RENEW ONLINE! 

1. Go to www.aepma.com.au
2. Click on Industry Portal
3. Log in with your username and password (valid for current members)
4. Click on “Manage My Account”, then go to “Memberships”, click on “Renew/Upgrade” button 
5. Fill in the online payment form
6. Your membership will automatically be updated
7. IMPORTANT – Check your profile details and amend if necessary.

Why join AEPMA?

The AEPMA national office gets asked this quite a lot! 

One of the main reasons to join AEPMA is

Job Referrals
The AEPMA National Office receives telephone enquiries daily from consumers seeking a pest manager which, in turn, are referred to member companies.  

The AEPMA website receives enquiries every day through its “Search for a Pest Manager” facility and these are referred to member companies.  

Commercial entities are particularly careful about the companies they engage to do pest control work and AEPMA is well known in the business world as a reference for ethical and professional pest management companies.

Read more here

AEPMA Pesticon 2021 – Pest Management in the Digital Age

With the reopening of State Borders, AEPMA is pleased to announce planning for Pesticon 2021 has recommenced.  

The event will be held on 22-24 September 2021 at The Star, Gold Coast, QLD.  

The key message for the conference is “Pest Management in the Digital Age” and will include outstanding and interesting presenters, with up to the minute topics and workshops to help you and your business stay relevant in this rapidly changing world.  The Exhibition Hall will again be the hub of activity at the conference, with manufacturers and suppliers showcasing the latest products and services.

Now, more than ever, Pesticon 2021 will provide an ideal networking opportunity for those in the industry to come together to share their knowledge and experience.

Keep an eye on the conference website over the coming months for further details regarding the event.

We look forward to seeing you at the Gold Coast!

NSW/ACT Branch Update

“The next AEPMA NSW ACT State Council meeting was scheduled for 27th February 2021 at Hawks Nest as detailed in the last December 2020 AEPMA newsletter.
However due to re occurring Covid 19 issues, both Shayne and I decided that the risk is too great and unpredictable to have the meeting and the weekend activities there.
It was decided, as painful that it can be and after 15 years of getting there together once a year, to cancel the event.

As we can’t predict the foreseeable future and for everyone safety it was the best course of action.
We will be having an online meeting on the 1st March 2021 at 3.30pm and invites will be sent shortly”

– Patrick Legey State Chair NSW / ACT

QLD
The next AEPMA QLD branch meeting will be held via Teams on the 12th February 2021 at 7.30am AEST.  Invitations will be sent to all AEPMA QLD members shortly.

Agserv – New online customer portal now open!

Need stock in a hurry? You can now order from Agserv 24/7

Launched on February 1, 2021, Agserv’s new online customer order portal allows you to place orders quickly and efficiently. Exclusive to Agserv account holders, this is not a retail webstore. It’s is a dedicated portal designed for the exclusive use of our professional pest control customers.  

You place your orders directly in to our system where they are immediately cued for processing by your local Agserv branch.

Once your order is placed, you will receive updates all the way to the point of delivery. Check out some of the features below and if you’d like to take advantage of this great service, simply give us a call or send an email and we’ll get you logged in and ordering immediately:

• Place orders 24/7 
• View backorders
• Quickly place orders for regular products via the Quick Order screen
•  Request a call back or leave a query
•  Build an order quickly simply by typing a product code or part of a product description
•  One-click ordering based off previous order history
•  Look up and print invoices
•  Check your account balance
• Update your contact details

To request your login, email: sales@agserv.com.au or simply give us a call: 1800 55 44 45

The Optimal Solution for Protecting Timber

Permethor® Shield is the latest innovative product from Ensystex. Permethor Shield is a low odour emulsion concentrate insecticide that provides long-term control of a wide range of insect pests in a wide range of situations.

Ensystex’s regional director, Steve Broadbent explained, “Permethor Shield is unique in its low odour approach in this protection segment. It is particularly effective for controlling timber pests including drywood termites e.g. Cryptotermes brevis, C primus and C domesticus and timber borers (beetles) and then providing ongoing long-term protection against reinfestation.

Read more here 

Mosquitoes belong to the order Diptera – a large order meaning (two -winged) with many thousands of species; and the family of flies call Culicida. 

The adults have large heads, compound eyes and a pair of antennae which is about three times as long as the head , are somewhat hairy in the female and quite bushy in the male, this difference provides a ready means of distinguishing between the sexes with the naked eye, these insects have a very complex life cycle, the immature stage is purely aquatic, and the adult stage is terrestrial. 

Read more here 

FMC has recently appointed Stewart Paterson to the position of Regional Manager for Queensland

FMC has recently appointed Stewart Paterson to the position of Regional Manager for Queensland
Stewart brings a wealth of knowledge with more than 28 years of experience in the pest control and agricultural chemicals industry.

Early in Stewarts career he worked for a leading Professional Pest Management distributor. Which involved helping set up pest control companies with equipment and chemicals. Stewart was also owner and operator of Direct Pest control Caboolture involving Directorship of all aspects of the business and part of the franchise advisory council for the group.

After selling his business to a Campbell Brothers Service Stewart held the role as National Compliance Technical and Operations Manager for the Group.

After moving back to QLD where he started working as a Territory sales manager for BASF covering Queensland, Northern Territory and Northern rivers of NSW. Stewart held multiple roles whist working at BASF over 12 years such as the National Commercial Manager for Professional and Specialty Solutions ANZ and National Commercial of Agriculture in Melbourne. After moving back to Brisbane, he was operating his own business consulting and working as the National Business Development Manager for Greenzone Products.

With exciting new products coming to the FMC portfolio, we are pleased to have Stewart on board to help provide support to our customers. His industry experience and business insight gained from distribution, his own business, and corporate professional management skills provide both FMC and our customers with a valuable resource,” said Dale Hudson Commercial Manager Professional Specialty Solutions.

“Stewarts appointment really strengthens our team and allows us to provide the best possible value and service to support our customers,” Dale said.

The market has had a lot of changes, so I am excited and looking forward to connecting with many of my old friends and meeting new customers. I am keen to show how FMC’s well-known existing range of products and new technologies can help grow their businesses.

You can contact Stewart on 0431 620 324 or email stewart.paterson@fmc.com

Real-time reporting app advancements – Rapid Inspect

In an increasingly litigious society, it pays to protect your business by applying best practice techniques to every job. And safeguarding it through insurance, of course. Combining these will greatly reduce your chances of financial and reputational issues from inaccurate or vague reporting to your customers.

At Rapid Solutions, we are currently seeing an increase in enquiries regarding potential claims for pre-purchase inspection and termite management reports. Remember: if your recommendations aren’t accurate and super tight, you may find yourself at least proportionately liable.

Read more here 

AEPMA member, Mick Ffrench is used to getting up close and personal with spiders and other creepy-crawlies.

After more than two decades as a pest controller, Mr Ffrench has spent plenty of time crawling through roof cavities and navigating his way under people's houses.

"I'm not the sort of person who could sit in an office all day. I tried that once and I lasted about two weeks," Mr Ffrench said.

This year has seen a spike in the number of spiders trying to share the homes of Canberrans, who have been calling in the professionals to evict their unwanted guests.

"It's definitely been a busier year than normal this year. We've had that rain we haven't had for a lot of years. We've finally got rain again, so you're getting a lot more insects around," Mr Ffrench said.

Read more here Credit Canberra Times

A spate of huntsman spider infestations reported in Sydney this week may be in response to recent changes in the weather, according to a renowned arachnologist at Queensland Museum.

On the evening of Australia Day, Darren Saunders from the Sydney beachside suburb of Maroubra felt something crawling over him in the dark.

The next night, he arrived home to discover hundreds of tiny huntsman spiders on his bedroom ceiling.

Read more here  - Credit ABC News

A "carpet" of mice has blanketed parts of New South Wales, with farmers and townspeople working tirelessly to keep the rodents at bay.

Reports from around NSW confirm there has been an explosion in mice numbers since the rain stopped.

Householders report mice are infesting homes and eating through electrical wiring.

Farmers says the plague was on par with a devastating mouse outbreak around a decade ago.

The mouse population has been on the rise in Merriwa in the Upper Hunter, extending to Tamworth and Moree in New England and into Queensland.

Read more here Credit ABC News

Australia is sweltering through another heatwave, and there will be more in the near future as climate change brings hotter, drier weather.

In some parts of Australia, the number of days above 40℃ will double by 2090, and with it the tragedy of more heat-related deaths.

In the complex world of plant ecology, however, heatwaves aren’t always a bad thing. Rolling days of scorching temperatures can kill off plant pests, such as elm beetles and mistletoe, and even keep their numbers down for years.

Read more here  - Credit “The Conversation

A nine-year-old girl is in hospital in the Northern Territory after a highly venomous snake bit her on both feet while she was in bed.

The Alice Springs girl was in her bedroom on Monday evening when the king brown snake bit her on both feet.

“She got into bed about 8.30pm and by 9.30pm she woke up screaming,” the girl’s father, Jason Phillips, said on Tuesday. “We didn’t know what was wrong. We thought she had a nightmare or something.”

Read more here - Credit The Guardian 

SAVE THE DATE!!

• AEPMA Conference Pesticon 2021 22nd - 24th September 2021
• QLD Branch Meeting 12th Feb at 7.30am (Brisbane)
• NSW / ACT Branch Meeting 1st March at 3.30pm (Sydney)

AEPMA welcomes any contributions or suggestions for articles that you feel are relevant to the industry. Simply forward to info@aepma.com.au.

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