COVERT CROP PROTECTION

The damage caused by pest birds to agricultural crops can have a huge impact on food production and farmers’ livelihoods. A few dozen birds can quickly munch their way through a lot of seed, and flocks can soon spiral into the hundreds when passing pigeons and corvids home in on an easy feeding opportunity.

Farmers do their best to keep ravenous birds at bay by using scarecrows, flags and bangers, but these methods have limited effect, as was proven when key general licences were revoked earlier this year. Birds soon learn to ignore these scaring techniques, and even when they are effective they only push the problem on to another place. More often than not, shooting is the best method.

I’m helping a farmer with crop protection today. The field I’m shooting over held a maize crop until a few weeks ago. Smashed up sweetcorn left behind by the forage harvester has attracted crows and pigeons in their droves. Soon the farmer will be drilling the field with an autumn cereal crop, and if left undisturbed the birds will devour the seeds, which would be detrimental to the success of the crop. Apart from giving the