It is incongruous that any enlightened person would be party to establishment of a fair farm practices legislation that included the repugnant application of excessive noise, such as a propane cannon, to scare birds.
Yet, the irony is arguing in favour of an agreeable practice which may be normal in the farm business, to try and use scare tactics such as diminished profit from crops ruined by birds and apply the vastness of revenue from berry production to avoid eliminating noise application as a viable control in the 21st century.
Most progressive and community-minded farmers would not use the propane cannon as it is offensive to neighbours and the community within hearing distance. It is not effective and yes, adept farmers do not use the cannon.
Yet dinosaur-minded bureaucrats, indifferent elected politicians and inept farmers band together to support continuing a most offensive device that causes considerable alienation, is harmful to babies and young ears, that pits neighbour against neighbour, in some vain attempt to justify scaring birds.
Noise is very harmful to human beings, a contributor to deteriorating health, heart problems and anxiety, yet foolhardy people actually try to justify continued use. Rather than take progressive steps to adopt effective measures of bird control available, some cling to outdated and poor means that were wrongly incorporated into otherwise fair-minded farm protection legislation.
Indeed, progressive farmers fail to be forthright and stand fast against well deserved criticism of inept farmers, using the might of total berry production to try and intimidate opposition from those caring citizens who know noise is harmful and unproductive means to combat bird problem. In time, it will prove to be a major factor in loss of berry incomes which is sad but the reluctance to improve is at berry farmers' own peril.
As the public continues to be repulsed by the actions of the berry industry to clean up its act and join the 21st century by using proven effective noise scare devices, the public moves more and more toward boycotts of retail supermarkets continuing to sell berries from propane cannon farmers – much to the chagrin of the complete supermarket industry who will feel the full onslaught of diminished profits as a result and yes, be tainted by the same outdated thinking manifested in those who lack the integrity and wisdom to engage meaningful and non-heath threatening noise to combat birds problems.
For more details refer to our anti-noise pollution program on our website, www.thecouncilclaw.ca.
George F. Evens