A Section 18 label has been re-issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use of the nonlethal bird repellent Avitec for a third year in Wisconsin. Avitec is labeled for sandhill cranes on field and sweet corn. This spring planting season 2008, Avitec can be used as a corn seed treatment in Wisconsin in areas where Sandhill Cranes have been damaging corn fields by eating corn seeds shortly after planting. The Section 18 has been approved for Texas and Minnesota as well, and Michigan has an application pending. Farmers in those states should contact their Extension service or Department of Agriculture for more information. The emergency exemption label (Section 18) for Wisconsin is effective through July 30, 2008.

 

2008 is the second year that a more effective liquid formulation of Avitec is available. A dry powder formulation is also available. Dry powder formulation offers flexibility of on-farm hopper box delivery to the seed. However, the powder formulation is less reliable than liquid formulation because different planter types, as well as seed box filling and mixing procedures, can result in variable amount of Avitec active ingredient delivered to each corn seed. Although liquid formulation requires the extra step of having corn seed treated by a commercial seed treater or seed company facility, it has proven a more reliable delivery method of Avitec active ingredient to the corn seed. Long term field research by the International Crane Foundation and Arkion Life Scienes, as well as field visits by UW Extension over the last two years have demonstrated that liquid Avitec seed treatement consistently delivers the required amount of active ingredient to each corn seed, and field failures have not been documented.   In contrast, field failures can still occur with powder treatments.

 

Avitec™ has the active ingredient 9,10 Anthraquinone, a compound naturally produced by many plants to repel birds. This reduced-risk biopesticide is not lethal to birds and has been labeled as a repellent for geese in non-agricultural settings for several years. Cranes eat newly planted corn seeds that occur in straight rows at predictable intervals. Planted kernels are most vulnerable for about two weeks after the corn seedlings emerge. Cranes detect Avitec™ on the seed and avoid treated seed. Though treated kernels are not consumed by cranes, the birds continue to forage on waste grains and other food sources such as soil insect larvae in those same fields.  Seeing cranes in corn fields treated with Avitec, therefore, does not mean that crop damage is occurring. 

 

Growers purchasing Avitec™ or having their seed commercially treated are not currently required to obtain a WI DNR bird permit before use on corn seed, rather the manufacturer (Arkion Life Sciences LLC) and WI DATCP will maintain records of Avitec™ sales to the county and township level through 2008 distribution channels.

 

For more information on obtaining Avitec™ in Wisconsin, please call the manufacturer Arkion at 1-800-468-6324 or visit their website for technical updates and application recommendations www.arkionls.com. You can also contact your local agricultural supplier for Wisconsin distribution information, UW Extension, or the International Crane Foundation. Below is a list of contacts for more information on obtaining Avitec™ corn seed treatment for the 2008 season.

 

Arkion Life Sciences LLC
Wilmington, DE
Contact: Ken Ballinger; 1-800-468-6324,  Ken.ballinger@airepel.com

International Crane Foundation
Baraboo, WI
1-608-356-9462 Contact: Anne Lacy (Field Ecology Department), Ext. 146, anne@savingcranes.org

University of Wisconsin Entomology Department
Madison, WI
Contact: Eileen Cullen, Extension Specialist, 1-608-261-1507; cullen@entomology.wisc.edu