P.E.I. farmers battle with crows

The owners of a vegetable farm in Stratford, P.E.I., are in a war against crows.

Greg and Tanya MacKenzie left their farm for the long weekend having just planted two hectares of turnip seedlings, about 25,000 plants. They left a crop scout to keep an eye on things, but then got a call saying 98 per cent of their turnip crop had been pulled up.

Though they never saw the crows, the MacKenzies recognized the signs from when they had a similar problem in 2003. The plants were pulled up but not eaten, because the crows were hunting for the worms underneath. They have since been making an effort to put the turnip seedlings back in the ground.

"We've been in a panic. They were getting smarter, and we had some plants under row covers, and they have since learned how to rip through the row covers to get at the plants underneath to pull those ones out. It has been a scrambling couple of days here," said Greg MacKenzie.

The couple have set up noisemakers in an effort to scare the crows off, but MacKenzie said he is concerned about how the noise will affect the neighbours.

"[We're] dealing with the town and letting the RCMP know what's going on, and try to get a bit of word out to local residents, just of what we're up to and what we're trying to accomplish," he said.

They also hope to get permission from the town and wildlife officials to shoot a couple of crows and put them on display as a scare tactic.

The big concern now is the remaining crops. The MacKenzies have about 45 hectares growing in total, with a lot of broccoli and cabbage, which are more important cash crops.

The MacKenzies have no crop insurance, because it is not worth the cost for an operation of their size.