Bayer Environmental Science has announced that for the 2009 school year, it will again extend the TopChoice insecticide “Protect Against Fire Ants” Schools Program.
The program is offered to both private and public secondary school districts for use on school grounds, including athletic fields, and recreation, city, state and national parks in Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Louisianna, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. Schools can choose among the following options based on their fire ant control and turf care needs:
Option 1: Buy 2 bags of TopChoice, receive 1 bag of TopChoice free
Option 2: Buy 4 bags of TopChoice + Fertilizer, receive 1 bag of TopChoice free
Option 3: Receive a $15.00 rebate on every bag of TopChoice + Fertilizer purchased
The promotion is available to schools through December 31, 2009.
“Bayer realizes schools are zero-tolerance zones when it comes to fire ants, and management programs are critcal to protecting young children from fire ant stings,” says Jason Kuhlemeier, business manager, insecticides, Bayer Environmental Science. “We have had such a great response to the program in recent years, and we look forward to introducing such an important program to even more schools in 2009.”
TopChoice is also available on fertilizer. TopChoice + Fertilizer reduces fire ant mounds up to twice as fast as TopChoice alone and still controls fire ants for up to one full year.
Fire ants, which currently infest more than 325 million acres across the southern United States, pose a serious and growing public health threat – injuring more than 20 million people each year with their stings. This number will continue to grow as fire ants move northward and westward. A colony of fire ants can number up to 500,000 members. When disturbed, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of ants will attack an intruder, inflicting painful stings that, in the most severe cases, can be life threatening. Studies show that 10 to 15 percent of those stung by fire ants experience severe localized allergic reactions, with one to two percent experiencing dangerous systemic reactions that, in rare cases, result in death.For more information about TopChoice, contact your local Bayer Environmental Science sales representative or Bayer customer service at 1-800-331-2867.