DlB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 18,1981
Blackbird damage to corn less than farmers assume
WILLIAMSPORT - Blackbird
damge to Pennsylvania corn fields
averages less than 1 bushel per
acre for over 86 percent of crops
examined in a recent study, ac
cording to wildlife scientists at
Penn State University.
James Wakeley and Robert
Mitchell of Penn State’s College of
Agriculture examined 288 ran
domly selected cornfields in the
Commonwealth. They found that
blackbird damage generally is not
as severe as farmers may assume.
Statewide, 62 percent of the
sampled fields contained some
damaged ears. Wakeley and
Mitchell extimated the total loss to
be about 630,000 bushels, worth
over $1.4 million.
“Certain farms, at the same
time, can sustain severe losses,”
Wakeley stated. “Five of the farms
we sampled lost more than five
bushels per acre, and one farm lost
an estimeated 17.6 bushels per
acre to blackbirds.”
When asked on a questionnaire
to estimate their dollar losses from
blackbirds, 479 growers in an
earlier study said damages
averaged $462 per farm In this
study, damage was estimated to
affect some 11,910 Pennsylvania
farms. Thus, total damage from
blackbirds would be over $5.7
million
“The latter figure is more than
four tunes the estimated dollar
loss based on field sampling,”
Wakeley commented. “It indicates
that growers tend to overestimate
the magnitude of the bird-damage
problem.”
In 1979, the average com yield in
Pennsylvania was 95 bushels per
acre for a total production of
115,425,000 bushels, according to
the Pennsylvania Crop Reporting
Service. Bird-caused losses of
gram amounted to less than 1
percent of the final reported yield.
Similar studies in Kentucky and
Tennessee - and Ontario, Canada -
- found that bird damage to corn
averaged less than 1 percent of the
yield
On most farms, normal har
vesting losses greatly exceed bird
caused damage. Some studies
have shown that mechanical
pickers and com combmes lose
three to eight bushels per acre.
The Penn State study will be
published in the Spring of ‘Science
m Agriculture,” the quarterly
magazine of the Agricultural
Experiment Station at University
Park.
While methods to control
blackbirds are available. Wakeley
LACOMBE, Alberta Stivers
Angus of Pittstown, New Jersey
and Moltzahn Angus of Bashaw,
Alberta, Canada, announce
Canadian record for the sale of an
Angus female.
Here the 21st Annual Cross
Country Sale, Stivers Angus
bought Classy Lass MG 9’Bo,
February heifer, from the William
Moltzahn fa mily fo r *5O 000 Tt iv^
USDA eliminates payments
on 1980 corn, sorghum
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S.
Department of Agriculture will
make no deficiency payments on
the 1980 crops of com and
sorghum, according to Edward
Hews, acting administrator of
USDA’s Agricultural Stabilization
and Conservation Service
Under current legislation,
deficiency payments are made to
producers when the average
market price received by farmers
during the first five months of the
marketing year f October through
★ OUR ADVERTISERS use the pages of LANCASTER FARMING to let you
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and Mitchell said relatively few
corn growers m Pennsylvania
would benefit from using them.
Nonetheless, they describe one
control device as an acetylene or
propane-powered exploder used to
frighten blackbirds. The other
technique is a repellent known as
Avitrol Com Chops-99.
When the study was made, the
cost of exploders ranged from
about $173 to $625, depending upon
the model and optional features
desired.
Angus heifer sets Canadian sales record
the highest price ever paid in
Canada for an Angus female.
Classy Lass was included at the
last minute on sale day, by popular
demand, as a special added lot.
Her sire, Sir Wms Wampum, had
been sold only moments earlier at
the same sale for $150,000, another
Canadian record.
Her dam, Eileemere Lass MG
February) is less than
established “target” price.
The national weighted average
price received by farmers during
the October 1980 through February
1981 period was $3.11 per bushel for
corn and $3.04 per bushel for
sorghum.
Since these prices are above the
1980 target price of $2.35 per bushel
for corn and $2.50 per bushel for
sorghum, no deficiency payments
are required. Hews said.
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A single exploder may be ef
fective over a 10-acre area. The
cost of fuel was about $l5 to $3O per
season.
“If used over a number of years,
growers with as little as $5 to $6 per
acre damage, about 2.5 bushels per
acre, might benefit, ” Dr, Wakeley
noted. “About five percent of
Pennsylvania com growers, on
some 1400 farms, are in this
category.”
As for the repellent, a single
application bv helicopter cost $7.25
99’77, had set the previous
Canadian record female price last
fall when Stivers Angus purchased
her for $30,000 during the Moltzahn
Angus 1980 Production Sale.
Classy Lass MG 9'Bo, a February heifer, brought $50,000
to set a Canadian sales record recently.
■I
i J ***£.
At LANCASTER FARMING, we think we
do a good job of keeping you in
formed... and we have over 39,000 paid
subscribers who think so too!
per acre at the tune of the study
According to the Ipbel, as many as
three to four applications may be
needed during the growing season
if damage is severe.
Even if Avitrol were completely
effective, few com growers in
Pennsylvania could justify its use,
Wakeley observed.
The project is supported by U.S
Fish and Wildlife Service funds
and by Fair Funds administered
by the Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture.
Both outstanding females may
be seen on Saturday, July 25, at the
New Jersey Angus Association
Field Day to be held at Stivers
Angus m Pitts town.
SS* 9 ®* 5