scruffy
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Inventors of automatic gopher-killing machine head to Ottawa seeking approval
Updated: Sun, Aug 05 1:26 PM EDT
UNITY, Sask (CP) - While the battle rages on between Saskatchewan farmers and hordes of gophers, the Gophinator - which kills the crop-destroying pests in their holes - remains on the sidelines, tied up in red tape.
"It's been about three years and we're finally to the point where the Pest Management Regulatory Agency in Ottawa has agreed to meet face-to-face with us," says Norman Maze, a farmer from Unity, Sask., west of Saskatoon. Maze's father, Keith, created the Gophinator in 1995 in an attempt to control the gopher population on the family farm. Federal regulators ordered the family to stop using it in 1999 after learning it wasn't licensed.
The Gophinator paralyse a gopher's respiratory system and asphyxiates it within seconds by spraying anhydrous ammonia, a chemical used for fertilizer, into gopher holes from a 280-litre tank fitted with a 15-metre hose.
Anhydrous ammonia, however, is not registered as a pesticide. Maze said he plans to use the mid-August meeting in Ottawa to soothe concerns federal regulators may have about the chemical.
"It's a very common product. I've grown up with anhydrous ammonia as the fertilizer of choice on my farm. And so, it's a little frustrating when you're trying to get it registered for a minute use like this."
And there certainly appears to be a need for the Gophinator, which sells for $4,000.
Last week, more than 200 farmers and ranchers from northwestern Saskatchewan met in North Battleford to complain about the damage the pesky creatures are causing to crops.
There have been reports of pastureland scarred by more than 1,000 gopher holes. Some farmers have said 30 per cent or more of their crop has been destroyed by the hungry critters.
Retired farmer Art Meister says he's been helping others cope with the problem in the Radisson area.
"I shoot gophers instead of golf," said Meister, who attended the meeting in North Battleford.
"I do it for the neighbours. Some of them give me a box of shells once in a while or a bag of fresh potatoes."
Meister and others want the federal government to reinstate regulations allowing farmers to apply a two-per-cent solution of liquid strychnine to their own crops to control gophers.
In 1992, Ottawa restricted the sale of the stronger poison over concerns about the effects on wildlife and humans.
Maze figures ineffective poison and a gopher population boom can only be good for Gophinator business.
"People just won't stand for not having an available control for much longer. The losses are just staggering," he said.
Maze, who sold about 20 Gophinators before Ottawa stepped in, said he would like approval so he and his family can crank up production in time for next spring - prime gopher hunting season.
"We said this won't take long three years ago. And we're still saying this won't take long," he says.
Updated: Sun, Aug 05 1:26 PM EDT
UNITY, Sask (CP) - While the battle rages on between Saskatchewan farmers and hordes of gophers, the Gophinator - which kills the crop-destroying pests in their holes - remains on the sidelines, tied up in red tape.
"It's been about three years and we're finally to the point where the Pest Management Regulatory Agency in Ottawa has agreed to meet face-to-face with us," says Norman Maze, a farmer from Unity, Sask., west of Saskatoon. Maze's father, Keith, created the Gophinator in 1995 in an attempt to control the gopher population on the family farm. Federal regulators ordered the family to stop using it in 1999 after learning it wasn't licensed.
The Gophinator paralyse a gopher's respiratory system and asphyxiates it within seconds by spraying anhydrous ammonia, a chemical used for fertilizer, into gopher holes from a 280-litre tank fitted with a 15-metre hose.
Anhydrous ammonia, however, is not registered as a pesticide. Maze said he plans to use the mid-August meeting in Ottawa to soothe concerns federal regulators may have about the chemical.
"It's a very common product. I've grown up with anhydrous ammonia as the fertilizer of choice on my farm. And so, it's a little frustrating when you're trying to get it registered for a minute use like this."
And there certainly appears to be a need for the Gophinator, which sells for $4,000.
Last week, more than 200 farmers and ranchers from northwestern Saskatchewan met in North Battleford to complain about the damage the pesky creatures are causing to crops.
There have been reports of pastureland scarred by more than 1,000 gopher holes. Some farmers have said 30 per cent or more of their crop has been destroyed by the hungry critters.
Retired farmer Art Meister says he's been helping others cope with the problem in the Radisson area.
"I shoot gophers instead of golf," said Meister, who attended the meeting in North Battleford.
"I do it for the neighbours. Some of them give me a box of shells once in a while or a bag of fresh potatoes."
Meister and others want the federal government to reinstate regulations allowing farmers to apply a two-per-cent solution of liquid strychnine to their own crops to control gophers.
In 1992, Ottawa restricted the sale of the stronger poison over concerns about the effects on wildlife and humans.
Maze figures ineffective poison and a gopher population boom can only be good for Gophinator business.
"People just won't stand for not having an available control for much longer. The losses are just staggering," he said.
Maze, who sold about 20 Gophinators before Ottawa stepped in, said he would like approval so he and his family can crank up production in time for next spring - prime gopher hunting season.
"We said this won't take long three years ago. And we're still saying this won't take long," he says.
