Dr Jenna Ross is on a mission to help farmers

Globe-trotting researcher wins award for her work on pest control

Agricultural researcher Dr Jenna Ross is on a mission to help farmers all over the world tackle slugs.

Dr Ross is a winner in this year’s Royal Northern Agricultural Society (RNAS) awards in recognition of her academic work into slug control and her efforts to encourage youngsters into the industry.

A farmer’s daughter from Tarland, Dr Ross has travelled the globe in search of ways to eradicate slugs and to better understand the extent of the problems caused by the pests.

“I did a PHD which was focused on biological control of slugs and from there I did research in Europe, the USA, and then ended up being based out in South Africa working on a new product for the control of slugs,” said Dr Ross.

Dr Ross returned to the UK last year to embark on a Nuffield Farming Scholarship which set out to collate global information on slug control in order to enhance farming methods.

Her report found a need for stricter biosecurity controls in the UK as 50% of the nation’s slugs are exotic species.

It also highlighted the direct and indirect economic impact of slugs on UK agriculture, and the need to develop better methods for recording and assessing slug numbers. She said it was difficult to quantify the cost of slug damage to the industry, but estimates from levy body AHDB suggest it costs the UK £100 million every year.

Working on the assumption that UK growers will soon no longer be able to use metaldehyde to control slugs, Dr Ross said: “Ferric phosphate may be the only control agent in the future.

“But if you rely on one chemical, what happens if slugs get resistance to that?”

Picture: Kami Thomson. Dr Jenna Ross has been working on slug control.