Damage to Winter Cereals by Greylag and Pink-Footed Geese in North-East Scotland

Abstract

(1) Autumn-sown barley in north-east Scotland grazed by pink-footed and greylag geese was significantly reduced in height and retarded in growth for most of the growing season. (2) Yields of grain and straw were significantly lower in grazed than in ungrazed areas of several, but not all, wheat and barley fields. Yields were significantly lower in fields with high intensities of goose grazing, but grazing in at least half of the fields studied was below that required to cause loss of yield. (3) The amount of weed was significantly higher in grazed than in ungrazed areas in three fields of each crop and increased significantly with intensity of grazing. (4) The median distance between goose roosting and feeding sites was 2-5 km and most geese fed into 10 km of their roost. (5) Within the feeding area, most geese fed on stubble fields in the first half of the winter and the great majority on grass later. Only a small proportion of the population fed on autumn-sown cereal fields, which were visited most in March and April. (6) Fewer than half of the cereal fields in the centre of the study area were visited by geese, although wheat was used more than barley. (7) The spacing of goose roosts in eastern Scotland, and the average feeding range and limited grazing on winter cereal, suggests that goose damage in north-east Scotland is, at present, a local rather than a national problem. It might best be counteracted by dispersing the geese by scaring them to prevent grazing on particular fields being great enough to result in loss of yield.