This three-year project grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Crop Protection and Pest Management Competitive Grants Program (CFDA 10.329) provides $181,960 to Humboldt State University Sponsored Programs Foundation from Sep 1, 2022 to Aug 31, 2025.
The project aims to optimize the use of barn owl nest boxes for rodent pest control in winegrape vineyards. It will assess the utility of barn owls for reducing rodent numbers, estimate the economic costs of this biocontrol approach, and develop a landscape model for maximizing barn owl occupancy through nest box placement. The University of California, Davis will assist in rodent monitoring through wax blocks, remote cameras, and open-hole methods to determine abundances of voles, mice and pocket gophers at study sites with and without barn owls. UC Davis staff will also contribute expertise in cost assessments of alternative rodent management strategies and provide background support. The goal is to develop a more holistic and environmentally-sound method for addressing crop damage caused by burrowing rodents in vineyards and other cropping systems across the Western U.S. under NIFA's Crop Protection and Pest Management program.
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