Farmer used pesticide-laced corn to kill protected birds in Pennsylvania, feds say

A farmer and one of his employees are accused of conspiring to kill protected, migratory birds using tainted corn on Pennsylvania farmland, officials said.

The two western Pennsylvania residents have been charged with a few different violations connected to the unlawful killing of migratory birds in Beaver County, according to a Nov. 8 news release from the Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In total, they are accused of killing approximately 17 Canada geese, 10 red-winged blackbirds and one mallard duck.

McClatchy News could not reach the defense attorneys representing the 50-year-old farmer and 25-year-old worker as their contact information has not yet been made publicly available.

The farmer is believed to have directed his employee to “spread whole kernel corn coated in carbofuran in and around a leased field used for soybean cultivation where children were regularly present” in June 2020.

Carbofuran is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency as a restricted-use pesticide, according to the news release, as it “generally caused unreasonable adverse effects on humans and the environment.”

The EPA banned carbofuran on food crops in 2009, NBC reported at the time, citing its “unacceptable health risk, especially to children.” The insecticide was under review after officials estimated it had killed millions of migratory birds.

“The tainted corn allegedly attracted protected migratory birds that were killed within a short distance of where they ingested the corn,” officials said. Then, the farmer and employee “took steps to conceal their efforts to poison and kill migratory birds, including by destroying the feed bag containing the carbofuran-laced whole corn kernel.”

The two men are charged with conspiracy, violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. If convicted, they face up to 13 months in prison and a $31,000 fine.

Canada geese, red-winged blackbirds and mallards are among the 1,093 birds protected under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The program exists to “protect, restore, and manage migratory bird populations.”

This story was originally published November 8, 2021 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Farmer used pesticide-laced corn to kill protected birds in Pennsylvania, feds say."