Fayetteville company launches organic ant control product

After more than four years from concept to commercialization, Fayetteville-based APGR Green Inc. has launched two new organic, food grade pest control products ANT-ZAP and MOLE-ZAP.

A public product launch was held Thursday (April 17) at the Fayetteville Farmers Coop, 417 W Martin Luther King Blvd., and included demonstrations of its use.

APGR Green provides patent-pending, EPA approved fumigants that have no run-off or residue and are one-of-a-kind alternatives to toxic pesticides. They are listed for organic use by the Organic Materials Research Institute (OMRI).

The pest control solutions replaces the oxygen in mole burrows and ant mounds with food grade CO2.

"Without oxygen the pests go to sleep and never wake up; it’s really that simple," David Jones, founder of the company, said in a statement. ”It’s just good to know that it’s still possible for a entrepreneur like me, to come up with a innovative idea one night out in his shop, and take it to market. … Only in America!”

APGR Green, an Innovate Arkansas company, has several outlets such as a number of area Farmers Coops, Chicken Holler in Farmington, and Nitron Industries in Johnson. APGR Green has secured national distributors and Amazon.com as the online partner. Their products are ranked in the top five in Pest Control Sprayers on the Amazon best seller list.

Originally created to eliminate pesky moles, APGR Green was extended to extinguish ant mounds when a native of Texas, who co-founded the venture, believed the concept would also be effective in controlling these populations. Testing began and proved the theory. ANT-ZAP and MOLE-ZAP were pushed in this month’s edition of Southern Living in the “Ask the Grumpy Gardener” section.