I share your wish that someday, propane cannons will be a thing of the past.
In sharing this sentiment however, I do not support your characterization of the ‘Right to Farm’ legislation as archaic.
There continues to be much misunderstanding about the intent and scope of the legislation.
In its quest to obtain buy-in from the farm community and placate those elements within that community who could not conceive of any restrictions on what they considered to be traditional farm practices, the moniker ‘right to farm’ was used to sell the legislation. In retrospect, I think that was a mistake.
The legislation – Farm Practices Protection Act – allows certain prescribed farm practices, but it does not provide for carte blanche and indiscriminate use of practices such as propane cannons.
In recent years there has been increased use of a range of bird deterrents as you so aptly noted in your article.
And while the noise from cannons can be very irritating, and there continue to be growers who fail to operate within the prescribed regulations, there has been a marked reduction in the number of blueberry farms who depend solely on propane cannons.
Perhaps because of the significant expansion in blueberry production in recent years, there appears to be more explosions in the growing areas.
I think that as more farmers and their neighbours become invested in each other’s needs for peaceful coexistence, we will see further reduction in the use of propane cannons.
In the meantime, let us hope that continued research in bird management will lead to the eventual discontinuation of propane cannons.
Ron Charles
