How to Keep Birds Away from Your Harvest with Crop-Netting

Protecting your crops from pest birds can prevent significant losses in the months to come--as much as 50%. Birds can easily eat their body weight in food each day. Even if they don't eat your crops, their pecks and pokes can allow mold, yeast, bacteria and insects to damage whats left of your harvest. Lethal methods of bird control are usually ineffective and can be illegal, as many birds are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which prohibits harming them, their nests or their young.

To protect your crops from the ravages of bird pests, you'll need an effective, humane bird deterrent. Chief among the remedies recommended by the bird control experts at Bird-B-Gone is crop netting. And the netting they offer called Ultra Net is both easy to handle and simple to install.

Crop Netting Seals Out Pest Birds

Ultra Net works because it creates an impenetrable bird barrier that won't allow pest birds access to your crops. It seals out bird pests while allowing sunshine, fresh air and spring rains to nurture every plant. Made of rugged UV-protected polypropylene, Ultra Net is light, easy to handle and practically invisible. You won't have to resort to bird poisons, traps or other lethal deterrents to keep birds away from your crops. Ultra Net crop netting is available in three different mesh sizes 1 1/8-inch, 2-inch and 3/4-inch to block out all types of pest birds. It comes in small sizes or bulk rolls of 14 x 100 feet. For large crop areas, the netting is available in 14 x 5,000-foot rolls.

Crop Netting Creates a Micro-Climate

In addition to sealing out pest birds, Ultra Net provides one additional benefit: the ability to create a micro-climate for your crops. During the coming hot days, crop netting can reflect some of the damaging heat away from your plants. A dense mesh like Ultra Nets -inch product can provide a more pro-growth climate under the heat of summer sun. Whats more, when used in combination with other protective measures, Ultra Net can also help protect your crops from the damaging effects of a light frost or strong winds.

How to Use Crop Netting

If you have a small garden crop, you can wrap individual plants in Ultra Net to create an effective bird deterrent. For larger plantings, Bird-B-Gone recommends suspending crop netting over entire areas of plants to create an elevated bird barrier. Simply suspend the netting from a series of poles implanted around the perimeter of your field or garden. Be sure to leave at least a four-inch space between the netting and your plants. This keeps pest birds from perching on the netting and poking through the mesh to eat your crops.

Bird-B-Gone is the worlds largest manufacturer and distributor of bird control products, providing effective and humane solutions to a bird-free environment. The company provides advice, training and installation services for those who need help with these and other bird control measures.