As you prepare to plant corn this season, you have a number of concerns regarding potential damage to your corn crop and profits. Bird damage to corn can start as soon as your planter puts the seed in the ground. In the past, organophosphate insecticides were used to treat seeds, which either tasted bad or was enough to kill birds, if eaten. However, these chemicals have been removed from the market. Thus, other alternatives had to be made.
Birds come to a freshly worked fields in any event as they offer a variety of food sources such as insects and worms. When they discover the corn seeds, they quickly focus on them as a food source. In turn, leading to a loss in profit. Don’t feed your corn seed to birds!
Cranes Eat Emerging Corn
Sandhill Cranes are problematic when it comes to corn seeds. They are relatively smart birds that are efficient about getting corn out of the ground. Cranes cause damage by:
- Peck
- Typically, cranes use their bills to peck the corn out of the ground after it is planted.
- Understand the spacing of rows
- Cranes know where seeds are located along a row
- They mimic damage of a cutworm or slug
- The young plant will be laid down in the row with the root ball missing
Normally, cranes migrate from the southern states into the Northern US and Canada for breeding in the spring season. Additionally, cranes are monogamous birds, meaning they stay with one breeding partner.
One pair of cranes can eat up to 800 seeds per day! In turn, causing massive damage during migration. Resulting to yield loss of corn that is as high as six inches.
A Product to Stop the Damage of Sandhill Cranes
The damage done by Sandhill Cranes can be prevented by utilizing the proper seed treatments. Utilizing a bird-preventative corn seed treatment will inhibit the loss of profit and crop damage. Particularly, Avipel® Corn Seed Treatment from Arkion Life Sciences is a crane repellant, proven to protect corn crops.
