Economic evaluation of biological rodent control using barn owls Tyto alba in alfalfa

Rodents are common pests in various agricultural cultivations. Utilization of barn owls for rodent pest control has long been used. In Israel, the indirect effect of barn owl predation pressure on alfalfa crop yield has been examined. Using radio-telemetry, barn owls were tracked to form a density-distance function, which was later used to estimate predation pressure on whole fields. This function was utilized on all barn owls nesting in the vicinity to assess accumulated predation pressure on fields, which was compared to crop yield in contemporary alfalfa harvests. Results show that barn owl presence has a positive effect on alfalfa crop yield, enhancing crops by 3.24% and allowing a net profit of 30 US$/hectare-year. These results are important since they encourage farmers to use this environmentally friendly, healthy method owing to agricultural-economical considerations, thereby evading the environmental-financial conflict.