Source: UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND submitted to NRP
RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT: ASSESSMENT OF BENEFITS AND RISKS FROM USE OF ROBOTIC LASER SCARECROWS FOR BIRD DAMAGE PREVENTION IN SPECIALTY CROPS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1020330
Grant No.
2019-51181-30026
Cumulative Award Amt.
$39,056.00
Proposal No.
2019-03172
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2019
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2021
Grant Year
2019
Program Code
[SCRI]- Specialty Crop Research Initiative
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
19 WOODWARD HALL 9 EAST ALUMNI AVENUE
KINGSTON,RI 02881
Performing Department
Plant Sciences and Entomology
Non Technical Summary
Bird damage is a chronic cause of lost revenue in specialty crops, particularly fresh-market sweet corn, berry crops, grapes, and tree fruits. Current bird management options are either labor intensive, ineffective, or noisy. Robotic laser bird deterrent devices are a new technology which has shown strong potential for protecting crops from birds while requiring minimal labor and avoiding noise pollution. The technology has been readily commercially available to farmers in the US for only a few years, but is already generating significant interest from specialty crop growers, agricultural service providers, and regulators/policy makers, as well as concern from advocates for wildlife protection. Research on agricultural use of robotic laser bird deterrent devices is very limited. The objective of this Planning Project is to bring together the disparate stakeholders involved and develop a strategic plan and proposal for testing the efficacy and safety of automated laser scarecrows as a tool for preventing bird damage in berries, tree fruit, and fresh market sweet corn. As part of the planning process we will collect data on bird damage problems in fresh market sweet corn nation-wide, to complement existing data on fruit crops. The planning activities are expected to result in submission of a SREP or CAP project proposal in 2020. This project seeks to use new technology to reduce the labor required to address the threat posed by crop-eating birds, which will increase production efficiency by reducing losses.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2140820102010%
2041480106020%
2041120106020%
6012410301020%
4022410208010%
6072410308010%
0012410000110%
Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management; 204 - Plant Product Quality and Utility (Preharvest); 214 - Vertebrates, Mollusks, and Other Pests Affecting Plants; 001 - Administration; 607 - Consumer Economics; 402 - Engineering Systems and Equipment;

Subject Of Investigation
0820 - Wild birds; 1120 - Blueberry; 1480 - Sweetcorn; 2410 - Cross-commodity research--multiple crops;

Field Of Science
0001 - Administration; 1060 - Biology (whole systems); 2080 - Mathematics and computer sciences; 3010 - Economics; 3080 - Sociology; 1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
Bird damage is a chronic cause of lost revenue in specialty crops, particularly fresh-market sweet corn, berry crops, grapes, and tree fruits. Netting effectively prevents damage on small plantings of high value crops but requires significant capital investment and labor, and is impractical for sweet corn and large orchards/vineyards. Auditory scare devices have had mixed results and produce noise pollution which can create serious conflicts with neighbors, particularly in peri-urban areas where farms are in close proximity to residential development. In some jurisdictions community anger over propane cannons has resulted in efforts to weaken right-to-farm legislation, threatening agriculture as a whole. Robotic laser bird deterrent devices are a new technology which has shown strong potential for protecting crops from birds while requiring minimal labor and avoiding noise pollution. The technology has been readily commercially available to farmers in the US for only a few years, but is already generating significant interest from specialty crop growers, agricultural service providers, and regulators/policy makers, as well as concern from advocates for wildlife protection. Research on agricultural use of robotic laser bird deterrent devices is very limited. The objective of this Planning Project is to bring together the disparate stakeholders involved and develop a strategic plan and proposal for testing the efficacy and safety of automated laser scarecrows as a tool for preventing bird damage in berries, tree fruit, and fresh market sweet corn. As part of the planning process we will collect data on bird damage problems in fresh market sweet corn nation-wide, to complement existing data on damage problems in fruit crops. We will also work with stakeholders to prioritize the list of questions to be addressed in the research project, and build the research and extension teams needed to answer the questions. The planning activities are expected to result in submission of a SREP or CAP project proposal in 2020
Project Methods
This Planning Project proposal requests support for a research grant planning meeting to bring together researchers and stakeholders around the topic of using laser scarecrows to prevent bird damage in specialty crops. The meeting will be held in Warwick, RI in November 2019. Evaluating the efficacy and safety of automated laser scarecrows as bird deterrents in specialty crop production requires a trans-disciplinary team. The PD for this project, Dr. Rebecca Brown, has begun to develop the team using the internet, but many team members have never met in person. Team members are dispersed among universities and USDA-APHIS-NWRC facilities all over the United States. The wildlife biologists and the horticulturists belong to different professional societies and attend different conferences. The proposed meeting will allow the team to become acquainted, both as people and as scientists. The University of Rhode Island is a mid-size university in an EPSCOR state, with very limited resources available for development of complex multi-institution research programs.We are also requesting support to collect data on bird damage in fresh market sweet corn. The SCRI project led by CA Lindell collected extensive data on bird damage in wine grapes, blueberries, cherries, and Honeycrisp apples, and additional local data have been collected by industry groups. In contrast there is little data on bird damage in corn, largely because extensive damage is rare except in fresh market sweet corn, and that is a tiny portion of the overall corn industry. A national grower survey is beyond the scope of this project, but we will survey vegetable grower association leaders and cooperative extension specialists throughout the US to learn about their members/clients experiences with bird damage.There have been no recent meetings attended by both wildlife biologists and horticulturists. There have been no scientific meetings focused on bird damage prevention in specialty crops. The URI Vegetable Program held an extension workshop on bird control for sweet corn growers in Warwick, RI on March 16, 2018 thatwas attended by farmers in southeastern New England. A session on bird control at the New England Vegetable and Fruit Growers Conference in Manchester, NH in December, 2017 attracted producers from throughout the region. Dr. Brown has given presentations on her research using laser scarecrows in sweet corn at numerous meetings in the northeastern US.

Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Since this is a Planning Project, the primary audience is potential collaborators for future research and extension projects. A conference on the use of laser scarecrows in agricultural bird control held in November 2019 reached a participatory audience of 21 researchers, extension specialists, and industry partners. Areas of expertise among the attendees included specialty crop agriculture, computer science and robotics, bird behavior and biology, human-woldlife interactions, and economic risk management. The survey conducted in 2019-20 targeted producers of sweet corn, grapes, and berries in the Northeast, the Pacific Northwest, and Florida. A follow-up survey in 2021 focused more specifically on sweet corn production and was distributed to Extension staff working with sweet corn growers in all states; Extension staff were asked to send the survey to their growers. Changes/Problems:We have encountered a number of challenges with this planning project, which have affected our ability to submit a SREP or CAP proposal in 2020: • Work on proposal development lost all momentum as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted lives. The university team members were swamped with extra work as teaching and extension moved to remote learning, leaving little time for grant writing. • The response rate to the initial survesy was extremely low, resulting in too little data to publish • When the RFA for the 2020 SCRI (FY2021) was finally released, the 1:1 match requirement had been re-enacted. This effectively prohibits us from submitting a proposal, as our industry partners are not in a position to provide large amounts of matching funds. We requested and received a no-cost extension on the project. This allowed us to continue collecting data on bird damage problems in specialty crops, particularly sweet corn, and to submit a proposal in 2021 when the match requirement was again waived. Report What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A graduate student in Resource Economics was hired to help with the surveys. This created an opportunity for the student to develop professional skills in survey creation, data analysis, and writing peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A Google Drive site was created to share information among the collaborators and promote development of future project proposals What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. A planning workshp was held November 13 - 14, 2019 in Warwick, RI to share information on bird control in specialty crops and on the use of lasers in bird control, and to build collaborative relationships across disciplines. The 21 workshop attendees represented 6 universities, 2 government agencies, a bird dispersal laser manufacturer and three farms. Attendees contributed disciplinary expertise in specialty crop production, bird biolgogy and behavior, computer science and robotics, human-wildlife interactions, and economics and risk management. 2. A list of research questions and goals was developed to shape future work. 3. A web survey instrument was developed to collect data on bird damage in specialty crops. The survey link was distributed to growers via handouts at grower conferences and extension newsletters 4. We began collecting contact information for extension staff working with fresh market sweet corn growers in preparation for distributing a more focused survey. 5. Collaborations developed through this project resulted in a funded Multi-state Specialty Crop Marketing Program project to study laser scarecrows for protecting fresh market sweet corn from birds in the Northeast. 6. A more focused survey instrument targeting sweet corn producers was developed and distributed. Data from that survey is awaiting analysis and publication. 7. An SCRI SREP proposal was submitted in 2021. The proposal was ranked as medium priority and not funded. However, we are revising the proposal in preparation for resubmission in 2022. The original working group has expanded to include researchers and extension specialists in additional states as word of the research on laser scarecrows has spread.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Since this is a Planning Project, the primary audience is potential collaborators for future research and extension projects. A conference on the use of laser scarecrows in agricultural bird control held in November 2019 reached a participatory audience of 21 researchers, extension specialists, and industry partners. Areas of expertise among the attendees included specialty crop agriculture, computer science and robotics, bird behavior and biology, human-woldlife interactions, and economic risk management. Changes/Problems:We have encountered a number of challenges with this planning project, which have affected our ability to submit a SREP or CAP proposal in 2020: Work on proposal development lost all momentum as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted lives. The university team members were swamped with extra work as teaching and extension moved to remote learning, leaving little time for grant writing. The response rate to the initial survesy was extremely low, resulting in too little data to publish When the RFA for the 2020 SCRI (FY2021) was finally released, the 1:1 match requirement had been re-enacted. This effectively prohibits us from submitting a proposal, as our industry partners are not in a position to provide large amounts of matching funds. We requested and received a no-cost extension on the project. This will allow us to continue collecting data on bird damage problems in specialty crops, particularly sweet corn, and to continue pursuing opportunities for funding. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A graduate student in Resource Economics was hired to help with the surveys. This created an opportunity for the student to develop professional skills in survey creation, data analysis, and writing peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A Google Drive site was created to share information among the collaborators and promote development of future project proposals What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next project period we will develop a more detailed survey for fresh-market sweet corn growers. Buiulding on lessons learned with the initial survey, we will be contacting extension agents and asking them to put us in touch with sweet corn producers in their area, rather than relying on a broad advertising strategy. We will continue to seek funding for future research.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? A planning workshp was held November 13 - 14, 2019 in Warwick, RI to share information on bird control in specialty crops and on the use of lasers in bird control, and to build collaborative relationships across disciplines. The 21 workshop attendees represented 6 universities, 2 government agencies, a bird dispersal laser manufacturer and three farms. Attendees contributed disciplinary expertise in specialty crop production, bird biolgogy and behavior, computer science and robotics, human-wildlife interactions, and economics and risk management. A list of research questions and goals was developed to shape future work. A web survey instrument was developed to collect data on bird damage in specialty crops. The survey link was distributed to growers via handouts at grower conferences and extension newsletters We began collecting contact information for extension staff working with fresh market sweet corn growers in preparation for distributing a more focused survey. Collaborations developed through this project resulted in a funded Multi-state Specialty Crop Marketing Program project to study laser scarecrows for protecting fresh market sweet corn from birds in the Northeast.

    Publications