Agricultural Pest Control
Rabbit control
Farmers are estimated to lose about £50 million annually due to rabbit damage to cereals. Winter wheat, barley and oats appear to be the most vulnerable. An annual yield loss of 1% per rabbit per hectare (2.5 acres) has been recorded for winter wheat and 0.33% per rabbit for spring barley.
Rabbits may prevent natural regeneration in woodlands. Damage ranges from the eating of young seedlings to the destruction of leading shoots, the browsing of branches and the removal of bark. The burrowing activities of rabbits can also undermine root systems.
Fox control
Fox control is essential if we are to protect wild ground-nesting birds. These are particularly vulnerable to predation by foxes, as are brown hares. Several of these are species of conservation concern; others are game species; some are both. To protect vulnerable species while breeding, we aim to control fox numbers, particularly from late winter to early summer.
Rat control
Apart from tearing into bags of grain, which causes contamination and spills, they feed on the embryo of crops, stripping away the nutrients and removing the plant's ability to germinate. Their presence on a farm also poses a threat to humans.
There are three main ways to reduce rodent populations on a farm:
Remove access to food
Remove places of clutter
Rodent proof buildings
Squirrel control
It is estimated that grey squirrel bark stripping damage costs the UK timber industry some £14 million annually. Trees planted using grant funding are being destroyed by grey squirrels at an additional cost to the UK taxpayer.
Grey squirrels eat songbird chicks and eggs. Research by the Game Conservancy and Wildlife Trust demonstrates that grey squirrels harm many native woodland birds, reducing fledging rates by an average of 15%.
Pigeon and Corvids
In summer, wood pigeons and corvids will form large feeding flocks. These flocks can number in the hundreds. Damage to crops would normally start in February when stubble and other food sources have been exhausted. This damage will continue into the summer when the grains appear on the plants and continue right through into the Autumn until harvesting is over and an abundance of stubble is available. In the early growing season, February to March, this damage can result in reduced growth, late harvest, weight loss of the crop, and damage to leaves, often making the damaged crop unsaleable.
