Will there be anything new to use in 1998?

Since this is the equipment and suppliers’ issue, it seems appropriate to discuss what emerging technology exists for the grower who is battling vineyard pests.

I’ve seen some nice Barn Owl nests boxes lately.  There are good sources now available for pre-made (or you can get plans and build them yourself) Barn Owl nest boxes, Raptor perches and Bat boxes.  The Internet seems to be quite the place to shop for such things, or you can contact me via e-mail and I’ll get you some information.

Rodent control is taking some interesting and not so encouraging turns.  There is an initiative that will be introduced in California on the November 1998 ballot (assuming it gets the 500,000 signatures needed, which is a slam dunk in California).   It is called an “Initiative to Ban Cruel Traps.”  This initiative in a nutshell will make it illegal to use “A body gripping trap...one that grips the mammal’s body or body part,including, but not limited to, steel-jawed leghold traps, padded-jaw leghold traps, Conibear traps, and snares.”  This initiative also states that, “It is illegal for any person, including employees of the federal, state, county or municipal government, to use or authorize the use of any steel-jawed leghold trap, padded or otherwise, to captureanygame mammal,fur-bearing mammal, non-game mammal, protected mammal, or any dog or cat.”

Now, stop and reread that paragraph and think about it for a minute.  This initiative decides for us that we can’t control agricultural fur bearing pests any longer.  For that matter, it specifically states that you can’t trap anything that has fur on it for any reason, and that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, State Department of Fish and Game and your local County Ag Commissioner or County trapper can’t do it either.  It does make provision for the protection of human health and safety (Pretty considerate-you know how vicious those gopher and mole attacks on children have been lately), and it will allow you to use mouse traps in your basement.  Oh and by the way, it introduces two chemicals that can no longer be used-Compound 1080 and sodium cyanide.  What are these used for? Well, it’s not rodent control.  The state has been experimenting with these two chemicals for coyote control.  They make a collar to put around a lamb’s neck.  If the animal is unfortunate enough to be a victim of a coyote attack and the coyote punctures the collar it’s lights out for the sheep killer.  The point here is precedent-get these two and then work your way on to household chemicals for insect and rodent control and sweep everything up in between.

Since this is not a political editorial, all I can say is watch out for this one. Agriculture will lose big time,so tell a friend and let’s make sure that we don’t get tied down by bad law written by extremists.  If you want a copy of this initiative yourself, again, hit me on the e-mail, and I’ll send you a copy.  You can read it yourself and decide on your own.  I think it is very important that we don’t make our decision based on what’s on TV. Hollywood is anti-trapping and they have a lot of money to spend to support their position.  If you want a recent case history lesson you may look at the fine State of Colorado which had a similar initiative pass last year by a 51% to 49% margin.  After the smoke cleared, it was disclosed that Hollywood spent just a little over a quarter million dollars to promote the initiative.  All the local state and county representatives, combined with the agriculture and fur trapping industries, could muster was $48,000.00, and they lost.

Bird control will finally see something that growers have asked a lot about and tried to build (many successfully I might add) themselves.  Net application and retrieval equipment will be available to rent or purchase in 1998.  You should be able to see this stuff for yourself at Winetech 98’ and at the Tulare Farm Equipment Exposition.  It’s about time.  I’ll write a detailed article about this and other netting developments later on.

That about wraps it up for new equipment and information.  My e-mail address is wctmike@aol.com if you are interested in any of the above information.  Drop me a line.