About Us
We are a California-based sustainable agriculture business founded to provide local jobs and to reduce United States agriculture’s dependence on poisons and pest control chemicals.
Our Mission
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Our objectives are to provide work for Amador County craftsmen, and increase yield for growers while reducing rodent/pest control spend. Consequently, in commercial agriculture, this means a greater supply of high quality sustainably-grown foods: wine grapes, table grapes, fruit and produce, and reduction in the use of poisons, via natural rodent control.
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We provide an environmentally friendly approach for controlling rodents and insects, significantly reducing both crop loss and use of toxic chemicals. Further, our brand products are constructed of wood instead of plastics, and made in the USA (no overseas shipping impacts).
Our first product, the Amador Barn Owl Nesting Box, was created to leverage the traditional Barn Owl for gopher, vole, and other rodent control – nature’s way.
Our Barn Owl Box sales have increased every year with use in California vineyards spreading to orchards, farms, and large vineyards state-wide. We ship across the country.
Today, by request of our customer base, we offer nesting houses for bats, bluebird houses, screech owls, raptor perch kits, installation materials, accessories, and many other natural rodent control products.
Our Vision
We foresee a world where naturally occurring beneficial predators replace the excessive use of pesticides, a sustainable world of practical pest control solutions for vineyards, orchards and farms. We believe that farmers and ranchers will leverage readily available products made of natural materials, to facilitate “Nature’s Way” of reducing harmful rodents and insects, and reduce the expense of organic growing.
The Problem
Every year viable produce, equipment and property are lost to rodents and pest insects. One study reveals that “rodent damage remains significant despite the use of pest control methods. Many valuable crops were damaged heavily and the economic impact was likely large.” (Karen Gebhardt et al. Department of Economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA)
The results of another study reveal the economic impact of rodent damage to crops. Rodents: vols, gophers, mice, and rats not only damage plants at the root, shoot, and leaf-level but also attract other annoying pests like snakes while siphoning off irrigation water for their own consumption and into tunnels.
In residential and non-commercial, rodent damage to property and vehicles causes an outrageously large insurance and personal loss sum.
The Solution
Natural Rodent Control. Due to increasing rodent and pest populations and a need to reduce toxic chemical use in the field, the use of barn owls, screech owls, day time raptors, bluebirds, and bats in agriculture are on the rise.
Example: The Barn Owl is one of the most efficient hunters on wings. A family of barn owls will consume up to 3,000 rodents in one year (a single adult owl will consume up to 1,000 pocket gophers in a year). The owls can be more effective than poison for rodent control.
According to the California Fish and Wildlife Service: “For the pocket gopher, barn owls represent a substantial biological control. Research work in California showed pocket gophers represented over 50% of the barn owl diet representing an average of 215 gophers ‘taken’ during the breeding and nestling phase.”
Think about it. The farmer spends approximately $300 once, and nature takes care of the rest.