How do I control pests like fire ants on a 400+ acre campus economically? The baits work well but I can't see sending out armies to drench mounds......?

Look up beneficial nematoes in the Dirt Doctor library.

You might try repeated broadcast applications of molasses at 1 gallon per acre. You'll probably want to get a wholesale price for the molasses. Look at a farm and ranch co-op.

There are two types of ants. Those that harvest sugar and those that harvest protein. Fire ants harvest protein and really hate anything sugary. By spraying sugar over a large area, the fire ants will avoid the area. My theory on this is the sugar promotes bacterial growth on their underground food supply and essentially makes it go bad.

Good info on protein vs sugar harvesting ants. I never knew that after MANY years of messin' with ants.

What happened to the big Red Ants I grew up with? Did the fire ants displace them? That's why I hate to use baits... I believe it kills ALL ants.

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Those large Red Ants must have migrated to my location. They ruin a fair bit of our pasture, and don't seem to mind DE.

You must be talking about something else. Fire ants are very small red and black ants (mostly red).

??? Who must be???

I was responding to Brad, having asked about the large red ants.

I didn't read far enough through - just caught the chatter about the little ants. Oh, well. Long day in the garden, and for once, NO ant bites. :-/