Canada Goose Crop Damage Abatement in South Dakota

Canada geese (Branta canadensis) can cause considerable damage to crops during summer when geese are flightless. We evaluated the effectiveness of a program designed to alleviate crop damage on soybeans by Canada geese in South Dakota, USA. The applications of electric fences, feeding stations, and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Troy M. Radtke, Charles D. Dieter
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Utah State University 2017
Subjects:
geo
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.26077/jwg9-4179
https://doaj.org/article/61f3aa92c13549c3a6e6beb59f44b021
Description
Summary:Canada geese (Branta canadensis) can cause considerable damage to crops during summer when geese are flightless. We evaluated the effectiveness of a program designed to alleviate crop damage on soybeans by Canada geese in South Dakota, USA. The applications of electric fences, feeding stations, and propane cannons reduced the area of crop damage by 90% in 2006 and 80% in 2007, but the timing was important. Fields where abatement practices were applied early in the growing season had less damage than fields where they were applied later. Abatement practices that were properly applied as soon as damage started and that were maintained throughout the growing season were effective at reducing damage to soybeans by Canada geese.