Case Studies
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Meadowbank Wines
Meadowbank has always had a problem with birds (crows and starlings mainly), so much so that 4 years ago we had to resort to netting - a very expensive process both in terms of captial and labour.
This year we installed with some scepticism a MegaBlaster unit which covers 12ha on a vineyard coming into production for the first time. After veraison we always have problems with crows and then as the grapes ripen the starlings start work. At first the MegaBlaster did not appear to have a significant effect against crows until the chip was changed. To our delight this had quite a significant effect against crows and confirms our believe that the various noises are effective at controlling birds. We turned the unit off on several occasions and immediately a significant increase in crow activity was noticed. To date (the season is not over yet) the Megablaster seems to have virtually eliminated all damage from starlings. In addition we have retained fruit on an adjacent vineyard which always had to be netted and even then losses occured. Of course these units need to be used intelligently and in conjunction with human presence as much as possible. We propose on purchasing MegaBlaster unit next year and do not intend to purchase nets for a new vineyard bearing fruit for the first time instead relying on the MegaBlaster.
Cheers
Gerald
