Title
Wildlife damage to field corn in 1993
Author(s)
Wywialowski A.P.
Published
1996
Publisher
Wildlife Society Bulletin
Abstract
Information on tile amount and distribution of wildlife-caused damage to agriculture facilitates sound decisions about appropriate management. In fall 1993, the amount of wildlife-caused loss of ripening field corn in the top 10 corn-producing states in the United States was quantified. Losses were assessed by comparing weights of undamaged ears and ears damaged by different types of wildlife. Comparison of standard dried weights in laboratories provided a basis to estimate losses of ripening field corn to wildlife. Other wildlife-caused losses were not quantified; hence these are minimal estimates of all wildlife-caused losses of field corn. Loss to deer, birds and unidentified wildlife differed among states and was not uniformly distributed among fields. Wildlife-caused losses averaged 1.7 bushels/ha (SE = 0.07) for an estimated production loss in the 10 states of 35 million bushels valued at $92 million. Producers predicted fields with losses well; frequency (G = 45.3, 2 df, P < 0.001) and rates of loss (t = 2.0, P = 0.021) were greater where producers had expected losses. Policy-makers, agricultural producers and wildlife managers can use this information to formulate better solutions to wildlife-caused losses.
Keywords
selenium; agriculture; bird; deer; ear; fowl; laboratory; manager; policy; United States; weight; wildlife; Aves; Cervidae; Galliformes; Odocoileus; Turdus merula; Zea mays
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PUB12979