August 4th, 2010 by Shaun Day

When it comes to farming, everyone knows that crops are the farmer's bread and butter. Without them, they could not be making a living. Pests are the biggest problem along with bad weather for a farmer. Pests often come onto the farm and eat the crops ruining profits for a farmer. The worst thing that could happen to get rid of pests on the farm is to spray pesticides and other nasty chemicals onto the plants that people will have to ingest, in turn causing them to potentially become sick or leave a bad taste in their mouth that could lead avoiding that particular farm. To prevent this from happening, using organic methods to get rid of pests is ideal as it not only prevents the death of pests, but also keeps the crops organic making them healthier and much healthier for humans to eat. In some instances being organic is not possible. However, many farmers will agree that they have tried and tested organic methods, without any significant outcomes, then chemical pesticide sprays may infact be the only sustainable way to remove pests from crops. Deers can be one of the biggest pests to a farmer, the simplest way to keep them away from crops is to set up a fence around your produce preventing them from attacking your fruits and vegetables. This will alleviate the problem of half of your fruit plants ending up in the stomach of deer’s, and cutting into your profits. An electric fence is the most ideal but not so practical way preventing deer’s from reaching crops. However, you may need to use conventional fencing like a chain link or a wooden fence, which should be a minimum of eight feet high so that these pests cannot jump over it. Birds can be a horrible nuisance to a farm. Traditional methods to fend off birds from feeding on corn, and wheat, are scarecrows. Typical nuisances like blackbirds, woodpeckers, grackles, crow’s and blue jays, like to eat small fruit from trees as well as build nests in fruit trees that can end up ruining harvest. One way to get rid of them is to ensure seeds or other food that may attract them, of course this is difficult when you are growing large quantities of the foods they are wanting, but spraying a pesticide on them may prevent them from wanting to eat your food. Insect problems are a big deal when you are working with crops. One way to eliminate these kinds of bugs is to rotate crops so that you essentially confuse the bugs into not wanting to eat off of your farm. It will also reduce disease that could grow from old crops. Common pesticide treatments can be used to rid the bugs, mice and rabbits. It is also good practice to use the necessary amount to make sure that you get rid of the pests but can still maintain the integrity of your crops. Never spray any chemical near a water source as it can contaminate the water, which it turn can cause sickness and ill health for humans. Make sure that you are only spraying problem areas where you have pests, not all of your crops. If you have large sections of crops being untouched by pests and critters it is unnecessary to spray them. Something to keep in mind when purchasing sprays and other pesticides is that you should ensure that you are using the correct pesticide and insecticidal chemicals for the correct situation. Otherwise its business as usual for these crop killing pests.