Crops - Wildlife barriers Wildlife barriers



Net fencing

Fencing with nets on the ground has been tested on a variety of species, described in three articles. Bjerke et al. (2021) found that plots protected with wire net enclosures had up to 20% higher grassland yield than controls. A Flexinet fence was observed to reduce rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) presence as well as damage to cauliflower in England (McKillop and Poole 1994) when fenced fields were compared to an unfenced control (RR= 0.02). Finally, a study (Hildreth et al. 2012) undertaken in Nebraska and Iowa, USA, observed a reduction in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) damage on corn in field protected by a 2.13-m-tall poly-mesh deer netting (Benner’s Gardens, Phoenixville, PA) in comparison to control fields (RR = 0.25). To prevent deer browsing on winter wheat in Delaware, USA, Springer et al. (2013) established plots with 1.2-m tall, welded-mesh, wire fence, but did not find significant differences in yield depending on the intervention. The yield was estimated to be 194 kg/ha greater in the control than in the treatment plots in the first year, but no significant differences were detected in the following years, likely as a result of low deer damage overall.

Referenced papers
Bjerke J.W., Tombre I.M., HanssenM., Bergjord Olsen A.K. (2021). Springtime grazing by Arctic-breeding geese reduces first- and second-harvest yields on sub-Arctic agricultural grasslands. Science of The Total Environment, 793.
A field experiment excluding geese from grassland plots using wire net fences was run over three consecutive years. First and second harvest yields across fields and years were 19-20% higher in exclosures than in plots open for grazing.
Hildreth A.M., Hygnstrom S.E., Blankenship E.E. and VerCauteren K.C. (2012)
A 2.13-m-high polypropylene mesh fence erected along the wooded edge of a field with either 50-m or 150-m wings extending perpendicular from the fence line and wooded habitat reduced deer damage in cornfields.
McKillop G., & Poole D. (1994). Developing an electrified fence to exclude rabbits from crops. Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference, 16.
No plants were completely eaten by rabbits in Flexinet fenced fields while most were eaten at the control sites (82±17%).
Springer, M.T., Bowman, J.L. and Vasilas, B.L. (2013). The effect of white-tailed deer browsing on wheat quality and yields in Delaware. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 37: 155-161
Unprotected winter wheat plots had greater yield than did plots with 1.2-m tall, welded-mesh, wire fence in the first year, and no difference in wheat yield were detected in the following years. White-tailed deer likely did not cause substantial damage overall.