One other point I forgot to mention in Dr. Smarts report,  In the summary he takes great care to show how the land use changed (more corn) in the 3 year study.  Strongly eluding to its effects on survival,   Basicly stating at the outset that the increase in row crops is the problem.   Unfortunately I don't see that in the data sets.  I see mortality based on location,  but not across the years.   If his  introduction is to stand,  it should have shown an increase in corn and beans decreased survival,  mathematically that data is not there.  Sample size is a bit small to prove, and as I see its flat missing.

I did however add it up from one of the charts,  and the total mortality is 39  the first year,  and 38 the last year.  Despite the increase in row crops. Hardy supports the what I view as an inflammatory statement in the intro.

Dr. Smart also fails to mention his numbers from increase of acres in row crops,  also happened to coincide with a freakish (government induced) spike in grain prices,  and when looked at as a whole,  is/was nothing but a blip on the radar.  When corn hit 9.00 and beans 17,  there was defiantly a spike in acreage,  which has long since corrected.  Corn is now back in the 3-4 range, and beans in the 6 range.  Whether this was an unknown or intentional  the reader would never know.



Charles

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