Strengthening Farming

Transcription

1 Strengthening Frming Order No July 2009 BIRD PREDATION MANAGEMENT PLAN BLUEBERRIES Wht is the Prolem? Birds et n estimted 10% of the lueerry rop in British Columi. Lrge floks of irds, espeilly strlings, re ple of destroying entire lueerry rops in few dys. Some ird dmge is ovious peked fruit whih is unmrketle or lusters of ripening erries torn from the ush. Not s ovious is the loss of erries tht re totlly onsumed y irds. Mny frmers don t relize the extent of their rop losses nd lost profits! Some of the tehniques frmers use to keep irds wy from their rops n e of onern to those living ner frms. The noise of propne nnons n e disturing s n the sight of irds entngled in protetive netting. Good ird mngement tht minimizes rop losses nd disruption to neighours is ritil to the opertion of profitle lueerry frm. Wht is Integrted Bird Mngement? Good ird mngement, like mnging other lueerry pests, requires n integrted pproh. This pproh requires knowing the ird speies tht re dmging the rop nd their ehvior ptterns informtion gined y frequent field oservtions. It lso requires seleting the most pproprite omintion of sring devies or protetive netting to keep the irds wy from the rop, nd using the devies in wy tht mximizes their effetiveness nd minimizes disruption to neighours. The most potentilly disruptive devies like propne nnons should only e used when floks of irds re present in the re. Finlly, n integrted pproh requires evluting nd mking neessry hnges to the progrm to mke sure it remins effetive. Why Bird Predtion Mngement Pln? This guide is designed to ssist in developing nd mintining n effetive ird mngement pln on lueerry frm. The enlosed form n e ompleted yerly nd the previous yers plns kept for referene when mking hnges to the ird mngement progrm. Plnning for ird ontrol well hed of hrvest seson minimizes the work needed during the usy hrvest period. A well-plnned progrm leds to etter ird ontrol nd fewer rop losses, in ddition to good neighour reltions. Photo Credits: see pge 3 Bird Predtion Mngement - Blueerries Pge 1 of 6

2 GUIDE TO A BIRD PREDATION MANAGEMENT PLAN ( PLAN ) Use this guide to omplete the Bird Predtion Mngement Pln form ompnying this ft sheet. The numers elow orrespond to the numers on the form. Also refer to the exmple on the k pge. 1 FARM OR FIELD 4 BIRD CONTROL TECHNIQUES d NAME. Give the nme you use to identify the frm. A seprte form should e used for eh field. LOCATION. Give the street ddress or desriptive lotion of the frm or field. CANNON CONTACT PERSON AND TELEPHONE NUMBER. If propne nnons re used, ssign person who will ttend to them should they dishrge during non-operting hours. To e proteted y the Frm Prties Protetion (Right to Frm) At, nnons must not e operted efore 6:30.m. or fter 8:00 p.m. In ddition, they must not operte etween noon nd 3:00 p.m. DATE. Give the Pln yer. 2 FARM SIZE TOTAL ACREAGE. Give the totl rege of lueerries in the field overed y the Pln. ACREAGE BY HARVEST SEASON. Give the numer of res plnted to vrieties tht ripen in the erly, mid nd lte sesons. Bird ontrol will e first needed in the fields or res plnted to erly seson vrieties-followed y res plnted to mid-nd lte seson vrieties. NETTING. Reord the numer of res of lueerries overed y nets. Overhed nets re the most effetive method to protet erry rops. A mesh size of 20X20 mm is est for exluding irds while minimizing the numer of irds getting ught in the net. Proper net instlltion nd mintenne is ritil. NOISE. List the noise-sring devies tht will e used in the field inluding propne nnons, eletroni devies nd orhrd pistols. To e proteted y the Frm Prties Protetion (Right to Frm) At, use no more thn 1 propne nnon per 5 res (1 per 2 h) of roplnd t ny one time. Propne nnons should only e used when irds re present in the re. Devies with rndom, unpreditle sounds re more effetive t sring irds thn ones with regulr noises. The noise of rker or whistler shells osionlly fired ner floks of irds helps to reinfore the sring effet of propne nnons or eletroni noise mkers. VISUAL. List the numer nd types of visul sring devies tht will e used in the field inluding refletive tpe, lloons, hwk-kites nd sre-rows. Visul devies re often more effetive when used with noise devies. Visul devies help to inrese the effetiveness of noise devies. Reent lol reserh hs demonstrted tht hwk-kites n e prtiulrly effetive in reduing strling feeding. 3 PEST BIRDS 5 BIRD CONTROL OPERATION FRUIT DAMAGE. Rte the severity of erry losses expeted y the types of irds. Use your oservtions from pst yers to mke this estimte. Use L, M or H to indite low, medium nd high pressure respetively. Strlings usully re the most destrutive irds ut roins, songirds nd rows n lso use dmge. Strlings gther in floks of vrying sizes serious losses n our quikly with lrge floks. These irds et whole erries from the ush mking yield losses diffiult to estimte or dmge the fruit with pek mrks. Roins nd smll songirds do not flok nd tend to e ground-feeders, eting erries on the lower portions of the ushes. Crop losses from roins or smll songirds is often less notiele. COMMENTS. Mke omments sed on your oservtions out the types of irds present or the differenes in numers due to the time of dy, res within the field or yer-to-yer hnges. Use more spe if required. NETTING. Give the dte you expet to instll the nets. Nme the person ssigned to mintin the nets during the hrvest period. Mintenne inludes repiring holes in the nets, repositioning poorly hung nets to mke sure irds nnot gin entry to ushes, mking sure the nets re reltively tight to minimize the inidene of irds getting ught in the nets, nd removing ught irds in timely wy. NOISE DEVICES. Give the dte you expet to strt the noise devies. Noise devies should e strted when the erries egin to ripen nd the irds first egin to visit the field. This will help prevent the irds from estlishing feeding pttern. Give the frequeny (in dys) when the devies will e moved to new lotions in the field. Sring devies must e moved frequently to prevent irds from eoming used to the lotion of the noise. This will help mintin the effetiveness of the devies. Give the expeted setting for firing the propne nnon under low, medium nd high ird pressure. Bird Predtion Mngement - Blueerries Pge 2 of 6

3 Strt propne nnons with infrequent firings t the eginning of the hrvest seson. Inrese the firing frequeny s the feeding pressure inreses usully s the hrvest seson progresses. This should help mintin the effetiveness of the propne nnon in sring the irds. Ensure tht single shot nnons do not fire more frequently thn one every 5 minutes nd multiple-shot nnons do not fire more thn 33 times per hour. Use less frequent firings during periods of the dy when the ird pressure is low suh s in the mid-fternoon periods. More frequent firings re most neessry when ird pressure on the rops is more intense. Bird pressure is usully most severe in the erly morning nd gin in the lte fternoon through to dusk. Cnnons must e set to shut off etween noon nd 3 p.m. Other devies my e used during this period. Do not fire nnons when irds re not present in the re. Assign person to mnge nd mintin the devies throughout the seson. Noise devies should e moved frequently throughout the hrvest seson, for est ird ontrol. Cnnons should e shut off when irds re not present in the re. Lote noise devies to est sre the irds while minimizing the impt on neighours. Ensure seprtion distne to residenes of 200 m for propne nnons nd 100 m for eletroni devies. Propne nnons nd spekers should e loted ove the ushes. Restrit the rottion of nnons or point sttionry nnons wy from neighouring houses or work res. Propne nnon mintenne inludes heking timers to ensure proper funtioning. When the propne is shut off t night to prevent the nnon from firing, lose the vlve tightly nd mke sure it doesn t lek. Disonnet the hose if the vlve leks. Nme person, nd list their telephone numer, who will ttend to the nnon should it mistkenly dishrge efore 6:30.m. or fter 8:00 p.m or during the mid-dy rek. (the sme nme s in 1. ove.) This person should e le to ttend to the propne nnon t ny time during the off hours, if neessry. VISUAL DEVICES. Give the dte you expet to instll the devies. Devies should e instlled when the erries strt ripening to prevent the irds from estlishing feeding pttern. One used to the field, the irds will e more diffiult to sre wy. Give the nme of the person ssigned to putting the devies in the field nd mintining them throughout the seson. Mintenne inludes hnging the sring devies. Do not lwys use the sme sre devie. The first response of irds to n unexpeted ojet is to flee. As the irds get used to the ojet, they strt to explore it, then finlly the ojet is ignored. Visul sre devies should e removed s soon s they pper to lose effetiveness. Mintenne lso inludes moving sring devies to new lotions in the field throughout the hrvest period. Sring devies should lso e heked frequently to ensure they remin in good working ondition. 6 EVALUATION OBSERVATIONS. Wth the irds throughout the seson nd note suh items s hnges in the type of irds in the fields, res with intense ird pressure or little ird pressure, times of the dy when irds re most present or re not present, ples irds tend to perh in the dy or roost t night, nd sre devies tht work well or pper ineffetive. PLAN REVIEW. Mke omments on the effetiveness of your ird ontrol progrm. Inlude omments on the overll effetiveness of the omintion of sring devies used s well s omments on individul devies. CHANGES FOR NEXT YEAR. Mke notes on hnges you wnt to mke in your strtegy for next yer sed on your oservtions nd Pln review. The notes n inlude new ird ontrol tehniques or lotions for sring devies s well s hnges to modify perhing sites. For exmple, lone tree my need to e removed or strips of spikes pled long roof ridges. These hnges will eome prt of next yer s Pln. 7 FIELD MAP Drw digrm of the field tht shows your Pln. Inlude uildings, neighouring houses, loks of erly, mid nd lte seson lueerries nd ird perhing sites (e.g. power lines nd trees). Also inlude the previling wind diretion s noise is rried y the wind. Mrk the lotion of the vrious sring devies t the strt of the seson. Be sure to dhere to required seprtion distnes etween noise devies nd neighouring residenes (200 m for propne nnons, 100 m for eletroni devies). Lote the sring devies where high ird pressure is expeted nd irds perh. Photo Credits: Roin imge from Strling imge from University of Wshington FOR MORE INFORMATION... BCMAL ontts BCMAL pulitions Aville from offies of the BC Ministry of Agriulture nd Lnds: Mrk Sweeney, Berry Industry Speilist. (604) Berry Prodution Guide for Commeril Growers (2009/2010, pg , $30.00) Bert vn Dlfsen, Mnger, Strengthening Frming Progrm (604) Suppliers of Bird Control Mterils & Equipment for BC Produers (2004, free) Netting for Bird Control in Blueerries A Deision Mking Guide (2002, free) Instlltion of Bird-proof Netting for Hortiulturl Crops (2004, ftsheet , free) Aville from the BC Frm Industry Review Bord: (250) Review of the Use nd Regultion of Propne Cnnons in the South Costl Region (Mrh 2009, free). Bird Predtion Mngement - Blueerries Pge 3 of 6

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5 BIRD PREDATION MANAGEMENT PLAN BLUEBERRIES 1 FARM OR FIELD NAME d DATE LOCATION CANNON CONTACT PERSON AND TELEPHONE NUMBER 2 FARM OR FIELD SIZE 3 PEST BIRDS Ares FRUIT DAMAGE Low, Medium or High COMMENTS TOTAL ACREAGE Strlings ACREAGE BY HARVEST SEASON Roins Erly seson vrieties Mid seson vrieties Lte seson vrieties Smll song irds Crows Other (speify) 4 BIRD CONTROL TECHNIQUES NETTING Ares NOISE Numer VISUAL Numer Propne nnons Eletroni noise mkers Bird distress nd predtor lls Orhrd pistol Other (speify) Srerows Sre-eye lloons Stremers nd flsh tpe (ft) Hwk kites nd plsti owls Other (speify) 4 BIRD CONTROL OPERATION NETTING VISUAL DEVICES Estimted dte of instlltion Estimted dte of instlltion Mintenne y Frequeny of moving the devies, every dys Mintenne y NOISE DEVICES Estimted strt dte Mintenne y Frequeny of moving the devies, every dys Contt Propne nnon firing frequeny (single or tripe-fired) Telephone Low ird pressure fire 1-yle per minutes Medium ird pressure fire 1-yle per minutes High ird pressure fire 1-yle per minutes 6 FARM OR FIELD SIZE OBSERVATIONS TOTAL ACREAGE CHANGES FOR NEXT YEAR Bird Predtion Mngement - Blueerries Pge 5 of 6

6 7 FIELD MAP Drw in the loks of different vrieties. Inlude trees, powerlines, uildings nd other res where irds perh. Lote the neighouring houses. Mrk the previling wind diretions (sound trvels). Mrk the res where ird ontrol devies re to e loted. B = sre-eye lloon = house C = nnon D = ird distress or predtor lls o o = powerline E = eletroni noisemker R = hwk, kites, silhouettes or stuffed owls x x = property line = trees Bird Predtion Mngement - Blueerries Pge 6 of 6