Test field visited by a flock of pheasants and geese
One “bump” which the Danish and Swedish partners encountered was an unexpected visit from a flock of hungry pheasants and geese on the test field on the island of Sejerø in Denmark.
As transnational co-operation has worked out very well since the beginning of the project, the University of Gothenburg asked the Danish partner in spring 2019 if they could test a variant of oat on the test fields on the island of Serejø. Laurids Christensen welcomed this idea and oat seeds were sent from Gothenburg to Serejø. The seeds arrived quite late, so they were sown just in time for the pheasant season, who found the oat seeds quite delicious and consequently ate a big portion of them.
Luckily there were still some seeds left, which started shooting. However, shortly after the first green sprouts were to be seen, a flock of geese visited the field and ate all the small Swedish oat sprouts.
Although it is great that the native birds left the test field with a full stomach and that it can be assumed that the Swedish oats taste delicious, the partners will consider putting up a fence and cover the test field with a net for next time so that the impact of salinization on oat can be tested in a proper way.
