Page 42 - Grapevine May-June 2019

Around The Vineyard

“Birds are decimating their crops,” says Kramer, tage, and because of an invisible stain on the veg-
“and that’s not an exaggeration. A group of birds etation and bird’s eyesight sensitivity to UV rays,
can descend in numbers and do significant damage they will come to learn and recognize Avian Control
in no time at all. You’ll first notice a couple of scout treated areas.
birds, and before you know it, your grape crop is
infested. That’s just the beginning. Birds just love “You’ll see the birds fly in, move around, leave,
to leave half-eaten grapes around, readily inviting and maybe repeat once or twice before finally
other damaging pests and disease-carrying rodents leaving altogether,” says Kramer. “They realize that
to the party, and all of those droppings being left something isn’t right within the treated areas and
behind are an additional vector for disease and then respond to those areas as if they are off limits,
illness. We know that small groups of birds con- moving on to more accessible areas.”
trol the movement of the flock, so our goal with
our Avian Control bird repellent is to make those Avian Control has significantly reduced crop loss
birds around your vineyard unhappy. Avian Control while overcoming objections about possible taste
makes them unhappy, and unhappiness leads them issues. Minimal dosing compared to other products
away.” is a significant factor in this accomplishment, with
the use of 32 ounces per acre versus a two and
Avian Control is a liquid product that is most a half gallon per acre spread rate for other treat-
commonly applied by an air blast sprayer, a piece ments. In taste tests where the winemaker knew
of equipment that many vineyards already have he was tasting the same grapes from a treated vs.
on hand. Applications are put directly on the fruit untreated group, he was unable to discern any dif-
but do not affect the growing fruit strand. Kramer ference between the two tastings. Avian Control
suggests applying the liquid every ten days as the is a green, biodegradable product, featuring a
product breaks down into a gaseous state. one hundred percent break down rate with total
non-toxicity.
“I liken it to our reaction to pepper spray,” says
Kramer. “It affects the bird’s trigeminal nerve, trig- “Netting is a great idea in concept, but it gets very
gering distress and carrying those sensations to the costly with the amount of time and labor involved,
brain. They can absorb it through their feet when and it also restricts airflow,” says Kramer. “And
they touch it, through their mouths when tasting guess what? You still get birds in there anyway. For
it, and when the product is transforming into a gas- goodness sake, use your air blast sprayer that you
eous state, the birds will notice it by way of their likely have on hand, and save on time, money and
nasal passages.” labor costs. You can spread our product for about
thirty-five dollars per acre, three times a year, rath-
It’s effective on birds only, which is a big advan- er than spending eight hundred dollars per acre

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