- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Published on: June 8, 2021
![A pocket gopher pokes its head and most of its body out of a burrow in loose, damp soil next to a drip irrigation line in a crop row.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/Green/blogfiles/82235small.jpg)
A pocket gopher emerges from a burrow. The holes and mounds created by burrowing rodents pose hazards to farmworkers and farm machinery. Photo by Jack Kelly Clark
Burrowing rodents can cause extensive and expensive damage to orchards and crop fields. To manage the pests without chemicals used on conventional farms, organic growers can consult a new publication from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources scientists.
“Burrowing Rodents: Developing a Management Plan for Organic Agriculture in California” outlines management within organically acceptable methods using an integrated pest management approach.
California ground squirrels, pocket gophers and meadow voles are the three most common species that cause damage. Squirrels chew on seedlings, fruit and nuts, killing young trees and reducing crop yields. In addition...
Tags: Margaret Lloyd (1), meadow voles (1), Organic (11), pocket gophers (1), rodents (2), Roger Baldwin (3), squirrels (2)
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture
Comments: 2
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