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Originally published: March 31, 2008
A Section 18 label has been re-issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use of the nonlethal bird repellent AvitecTM for a third year in Wisconsin. AvitecTM is labeled for Sandhill Cranes on field and sweet corn. This spring planting season 2008, AvitecTM can be used as a corn seed treatment throughout Wisconsin in areas where Sandhill Cranes have been damaging corn fields by eating corn seeds shortly after planting. The Section 18 has been approved for Texas and Minnesota as well, and Michigan has an application pending. Farmers in those states should contact their Extension service or Department of Agriculture for more information.
2008 is the second year that a more effective liquid formulation of AvitecTM is available. A dry powder formulation is also available. Dry powder formulation offers flexibility for on-farm hopper box delivery to the seed. However, the powder formulation is less reliable than liquid formulation because different planter types, as well as seed box filling and mixing procedures, can result in variable amount of AvitecTM active ingredient delivered to each corn seed. Although liquid formulation requires the extra step of having corn seed treated by a commercial seed treater or seed company facility, it has proven a more reliable delivery method of AvitecTM active ingredient to the corn seed.
Long term field research by the International Crane Foundation and Arkion Life Sciences, as well as field visits by UW Extension over the last two years have demonstrated that liquid AvitecTM seed treatment consistently delivers the required amount of active ingredient to each corn seed, and field failures have not been documented. In contrast, field failures can still occur with powder treatments.
Avitec™ has the active ingredient 9,10 Anthraquinone, a compound naturally produced by many plants to repel birds. This reduced-risk biopesticide is not lethal to birds and has been labeled as a repellent for geese in non-agricultural settings for several years. Cranes eat newly planted corn seeds that occur in straight rows at predictable intervals. Planted kernels are most vulnerable for about two weeks after the corn seedlings emerge. Cranes detect Avitec™ on the seed and avoid treated seed. Though treated kernels are not consumed by cranes, the birds continue to forage on waste grains and other food sources such as soil insect larvae in those same fields. Seeing cranes in corn fields treated with AvitecTM, therefore, does not mean that crop damage is occurring.
The approval of AvitecTM significantly advances ICF’s goal to reduce conflicts arising between farmers and the increasing population of Sandhill Cranes in the Midwest. Further, this sustainable solution can be fully implemented by growers themselves. To learn more about ICF’s work worldwide to conserve cranes and the wetland, grassland, and other ecosystems on which they depend, visit www.savingcranes.org ### |
