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Repellent to Keep Cranes From Corn is OK'D

Posted on: Saturday, 1 April 2006, 12:00 CST

By Ron Seely, The Wisconsin State Journal

Apr. 1--Wisconsin corn farmers plagued by marauding sandhill cranes will have a new weapon this spring to keep the birds from eating their seedlings.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of a non-lethal bird repellent called Avitec for use on newly planted corn crops in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. The repellant contains a chemical called anthraquinone that tastes bad to the birds and keeps them from dining on newly sprouted corn kernels.

Sandhill cranes were once nearly wiped out in Wisconsin but have made a strong comeback and now gather in fields, especially in the central sand counties, in flocks that number in the thousands. So successful has been their return that they pose a major threat to crops, especially corn.

In the spring, according to Bob Oleson, executive director of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, they pluck seeds right out of the ground.

"They're smart," Oleson said. "They've figured out that where there is a sprout, there is a seed under there. And they'll go right down the row and eat all the seeds."

Oleson said cranes can easily destroy between 100 and 150 acres on a farm in the spring. "They can do a tremendous amount of damage," Oleson added.

The active ingredient in the repellant, anthraquinone, is found naturally in many plants.

The newly approved treatment replaces the use of a chemical called lindane that was removed from the market by the EPA. Approval of Avitec was sought by the International Crane Foundation and a number of other government agencies and farm organizations, including the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, U.S. Department of Agriculture and four farm groups in the three states.

Jeb Barzen, director of field ecology at the crane foundation, said the approval was welcome news. With the removal of lindane from store shelves, farmers were left with no protection for their crops, he said. He added that, while farmers can get reimbursed for damage from deer or turkeys, no such alternative exists for sandhill cranes because the birds aren't hunted and such payments come from money raised by the sale of hunting licenses.

By giving farmers another tool, Barzen added, damage to crops can be minimized and a potential backlash against cranes can be avoided. Such concerns exist with other animals, such as gray wolves, whose return to the landscape has brought problems such as livestock predation.

"You have a wildlife success story here," Barzen said of the cranes. "But the future of that success depends on what happens on private lands."

Bob Zimpel, with TH Agrichemicals in Plainfield, said farmers are already calling to ask about availability of the repellent. He said he expects the first shipments to arrive in a couple of weeks, just in time for spring planting. Cost of treatment with the repellent will be about $5 an acre, Zimpel said.

"There already has been a big demand," Zimpel said. "The problem with the cranes has gotten bigger and bigger. It's a serious issue in some areas."

Although the idea of a hunting season on sandhill cranes has been raised in recent years, Oleson, with the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, said that's an alternative that isn't on the table.

"The two words none of us are using are 'hunting season,' " said Oleson. "We're not interested in that. We're not proposing that."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Wisconsin State Journal

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Wisconsin State Journal

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