Barry Kelly and Tania Moorhead, ‘Glen Lomond’, Glen Innes at Farmfest in June.

A DEVICE designed to safely deliver 1080 or sodium nitrate baits to feral pigs without endangering other animals attracted strong landholder interest at Queensland’s FarmFest field days last month.

South Australian pest control specialist Barry Kelly said it took more than seven years to develop the trademarked PIG BAITTA units.

They work by aligning with pig’s natural behaviour.

“Pigs will naturally do everything with their snout,” Barry explained.

“It has this flap with a weighted bar so only pigs can lift up the flap and get access to the free feed or the grain.

“They just push underneath it and it just lifts up, it just makes it simpler for them.”

Barry developed the product while managing Government funded feral pig control projects in conjunction with Landcare and Local Land Services groups.

“We wanted a delivery device that could hold a reasonable amount of free feed and that only feral pigs can access.

“There were a few other options on the market but nothing that worked that well, so we were just forced to develop our own and experiment and try to get something to work.

“From the idea to release the product it was seven years. It is a simple product but it took a little way to get there.”

The galvanised steel units are modelled off grain and pellet livestock feeders and are fabricated in Adelaide.

The units can store 100kg or 250kg of feed which can mean long periods without the need to re-fill. Grain volume sensors linked to satellite connections can also provide alerts on when refills are required.

Since launching the product two years ago Mr Kelly said they have been sold to every state in Australia, and are being used in industry and Government funded biosecurity trials currently underway.

“They have shown by tracking the pigs that helicopters can spread them out, which isn’t what you want when you have got a disease outbreak,

“With decent feed stations you actually draw the pigs in and hold them there and then you can control them, rather than chasing them all over the country side, it is very important.”

He said discussions are also underway to sell the units to export customers in America and Asia.