Farm Cannon Noise Poised to Spread
Peace Arch News,
November 22, 2007,
A rush by farmers to expand blueberry farms has agriculture minister Pat Bell
bracing for a boom in the number of propane cannons and a bumper crop of
complaints from neighbouring residents.
Bell is vowing to set up meetings with growers and civic leaders over the
winter to look for ways to reduce the urban-agricultural noise conflict that
comes to a head every summer.
“It’s becoming a bigger and bigger challenge all the time,” he said, noting the
blueberry industry has nearly doubled in size over the past five years.
The latest push to plant blueberries is coming on small acreages where it
wasn’t previously economic to farm any other crop. But a huge run-up in the
price of the fruit has made blueberries highly profitable in recent years.
“Over the next year or two there will be many, many small two-, three-,
four-acre parcels that will be coming into production,” Bell said. “And clearly
local residents are going to find propane cannons to be problematic.”
He said the new sites are coming on stream across the Fraser Valley from Delta
to Chilliwack.
Many farmers prefer propane cannons to scare away blueberry-eating birds.
But there are alternatives.
“We need to get out of the box on this one and start looking at falconry and
netting,” Bell said.
Other ways to disrupt hungry birds include a laser system still being tested,
reflective streamers and kites.
Another option are cannons that fire only when birds are detected.
“I think the end answer is going to be a blend of solutions,” Bell said.
He predicted propane cannons may well remain a tool farmers can use, but said
more regulation may be needed limiting how closely they can be spaced and the
minimum property size on which they can be used.
Some municipalities, including Delta and Pitt Meadows, have their own bylaws
regulating propane cannon use.
