Bird Deterrent Design Challenge

In response to a stakeholder call for help, YCEDA teamed up with Dr. Paula Rivadeneira's UA Cooperative Extension Food Safety Program to attack the problem of bird incursion leading to crop damage and food safety issues.  YCEDA funded a Bird Deterrent Discussion and Design Challenge, bringing together producers and a variety of other experts as well as researchers and technologists to define the problem and incentivize creative solutions.  Two Design Challenge winners were selected:  A high tech company, Black Fence Solutions, received a cash award for preliminary design of their ideas for a high tech drone-based system that detects and deters problem birds; and an engineering student from the UA Yuma campus was awarded work-study support to explore numerous ideas that will be prototyped during the current growing season.