Canada geese do damage to farmers' crops

SALISBURY -- Driving by area farms it's hard not to notice the thousands of Canada geese roaming the fields nibbling on whatever they can find.
During colder winters the geese would only be able to graze the top of winter wheat and barley, but this year's mild temperatures and rain have led to the geese pulling up farmers' crops by the root, causing damage to crop yields and farmers' finances.
"Generally it does not hurt the crop if conditions are right for them to graze it," said Tom Pinto, a Somerset County farmer who has been having issues with Canada geese this winter. "But, if their timing is such that there has been a freeze and it's just thawing when they are grazing, it's easy to uproot."
Pinto said one of the fields he rents is next to the Wicomico River and thus is a perfect landing spot for not only the geese that migrate through Delmarva twice a year, but also the Canada geese that have taken up residence in the area.
He said on some days there may be anywhere from a few hundred geese to several thousand. To try to prevent them from damaging his winter crops, Pinto said he has sprayed with cayenne pepper and put out coyote decoys, which have deterred the geese somewhat but not prevented damage to his fields.
Pinto said he has also called state and federal-level agencies to see if there is anything additional he can do during this time of year.
"There is so much red tape involved with the federal part that I was referred to by the state officials that I felt it wasn't worth my time to do it," Pinto said. "It should be a little simpler to report damage and have somebody say 'here's what to do.' "
Larry Hindman, waterfowl project leader with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said while states do provide permits to farmers, they are not available during the winter. Instead farmers need to petition the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services office in Annapolis during the winter months.
"At this time of year they would have to get a federal permit to kill the geese," Hindman said. "Typically they have to inspect the property if the farmer wanted to pursue getting a federal depredation permit. But before a farmer could get a permit to kill the geese, he would have to demonstrate his scare techniques have not been effective."
The depredation orders administered by Maryland began as a collaboration between state agencies and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services in March of 2009. There are two types of depredation orders: The first allows landowners to destroy resident Canada goose nests and eggs between March 1 and June 30 and the second allows those engaged in commercial agriculture to kill resident Canada geese between May 1 and August 31, when those geese are damaging crops.
Outside of the spring and summer months, farmers are expected to rely on techniques that do not involve killing, such as hazing, harassment, habitat management and decoys.
While there is an option to get permitted by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services outside of the state permitting dates, Pinto said he isn't sure if that would help mitigate the problem.
"The resident geese are the worst, because they don't go back north," Pinto said. "Hunting two or three geese off a farm when you are getting 10,000 is certainly not the answer."