Build Your Own Laser Scarecrow

Build Your Own Laser Scarecrow BIRD CONTROL Ken Deanna and Jim Elliot say that Red-winged blackbirds and other pests used to damage up to 80 percent of the crops on their family’s Massachusetts produce farm Before they built their own laser scarecrow the Elliots tried balloons bird distress calls bird repellent netting and reflecting tape to scare the critters away They were desperate for a solution for their 50-acre farm The Elliots looked at different laser units on the market that ranged in price from $500 to nearly $10 000 but thought those weren’t feasible as one was hand-held and the highest priced model was good for only one field Their farm has many separate fields Looking for solutions Ken joined a laser scarecrow feasibility study in 2016 put together by University of Rhode Island plant sciences professor Dr Rebecca Brown In 2018 the Elliot farm was awarded a Northeast SARE grant to design and produce an effective laser scarecrow prototype for under $500 They collaborated with three developers from the Wentworth Institute of Technology and pilot-tested 9 laser units during the 2018 growing season Ken says those units reduced damage in their sweet corn field from 80 percent to 20 percent and when they were teamed with a bird distress call and placed in the field before the ears were ripe the damage was even further reduced to 8 percent Materials to build Elliot’s laser unit cost about $500 A parts list plans and a step-by-step build-it guide are available at their website: https://deannaelliot wixsite com/laserscarecrow Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Elliot Farms CSA elliotfarmcsa@gmail com

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