Intercrop Ltd

The Challenge

Intercrop Ltd, a leading grower specialising in baby salad crops, faced significant challenges from pest bird activity. Corvids, wood pigeons, herring gulls, lesser black-backed gulls, and black-headed gulls were all causing damage to crops. The issue came to a head when the company lost an entire crop due to a positive E. coli result directly linked to pest bird contamination. Traditional deterrent methods proved unreliable and costly, often requiring Intercrop’s own staff to divert time and effort away from farming.

Why Intercrop Chose Sky Raiders

A chance meeting at a local village fete opened the conversation between Intercrop’s director and Sky Raiders. After witnessing our birds of prey in action during a trial visit, Intercrop decided to partner with us long term to tackle the pest bird problem head-on.

The Solution

Sky Raiders deployed a dedicated falconer for six hours a day, seven days a week, focusing on dawn, midday, and dusk, the busiest periods of bird activity. The falconer remained on-call for emergency responses, ensuring complete coverage.

Our approach combined the use of six specially trained hawks and falcons, selected for their size and presence, alongside licensed culling, bangers, rockets, human patrols, and other traditional methods. This layered strategy created a persistent deterrent while allowing us to actively respond to immediate issues.

The Results

Within just two months, pest species were pushed back into smaller, manageable areas, and bird behaviour changed significantly, flocks became highly sensitive to any vehicular or human movement. The amount of organic debris such as guano and feathers in the crops dropped sharply, and most importantly, no further crops were lost to bird or rabbit damage. Intercrop could once again focus entirely on farming with confidence in their yields.

Client Feedback

“The success Sky Raiders have had in such a short period of time is unbelievable. It has allowed us to concentrate on farming rather than pest control. The service provided has been beneficial, proactive, and well received by our customers. Highly recommended.”