Agricultural pest facts
- We use the term ‘agricultural pest’ to cover a broad range of species that cause problems specific to agricultural businesses. This can include (but not limited to) species that:
- reduce crop yields
- damage or consume harvested crops
- contaminate harvested crops with pathogens
- directly or indirectly threaten the life or health of livestock (as a predator or biohazard)
- damage farm machinery.
- For these reasons, some of the main species that require control are:
- rabbits, deer, stored product insects, rodents, foxes, pest bird species, moles, flies.
- Pests can threaten agricultural businesses in ways you might not expect:
- A horse turned out in a field with a rabbit warren can trap and break a leg.
- Unregulated deer populations with high TB infection levels travel vast distances spreading TB to cattle.
- Autumn flies (Musca Autumnalis) land on the faces of livestock and use their ‘teeth’ to stimulate the flow of tears; this can lead to infection and loss of the eye
What you can do
- Look at your land, livestock and buildings with a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ every day.
- Get to know your pest populations and where they might cause you problems.
- Adopt a ‘prevention is better than cure’ mentality!
- Remove or prevent access to resources.
If you have a problem with agricultural pests, we will..
- Get to know your environment and operations.
- Identify the pest species and extent of the infestation.Employ specialist control methods. For example, we can offer:
- fully-licensed use of firearms and night vision, ferreting, the latest trapping innovations.
- Offer you training for self-delivery.