At 6:00 AM, Cory Stewart prepares for his day, ensuring the BurrowRx Carbon Monoxide Sprayer is securely placed inside his truck. In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, pocket gophers pose a significant challenge for agricultural businesses, attracting attention due to the region’s lush landscape and diverse enterprises, from Christmas tree farms to world-class vineyards.
Cory, the founder of Oregon Gopher, LLC, collaborates closely with farmers to combat pocket gophers and moles, notorious for their crop-damaging and breeding habits.
“The Camas Pocket Gopher, found here, is particularly aggressive and one of the largest amongst all North American gophers,” notes Cory. “They’ll feed on just about anything.” Targeting gophers during mating season is crucial, Cory explains, as it eliminates both adult gophers and their offspring before they cause damage to crops.
“One of my clients owns a 100-acre Christmas tree farm,” he shares. “A single gopher can destroy 15+ saplings, posing a severe threat to their business.”
Recently, Cory has been working with aerial drones to get a better handle on the situation. “I recently treated a rather large wheat field, using a drone to survey the area and identify gopher networks,” Cory recounts. “This approach is particularly advantageous when dealing with large areas like 100 acres or more.”
Administering anywhere from 10-60 applications of the BurrowRx for 3-4 minutes each, Cory diligently ensures thorough eradication of gophers, revisiting treatment sites to confirm success.
Cory commends the ease of use of the BurrowRx and the helpfulness of its instruction manual, emphasizing the importance of user application knowledge for optimal results.
“For farmers who prefer not to use traps, the BurrowRx is an excellent alternative,” Cory affirms. “Setting a trap can damage your fingers pretty easily. Setting traps can also be quite time-consuming and expensive. The machine is more efficient, offering a higher success rate.”
Cory believes that BurrowRx offers farmers a reliable solution to their gopher problems, enabling them to effectively protect their crops and livelihoods.