Looking for Mr. Groundhog: Crop Losses Mount From Wildlife
I am 100% planted in corn. I count myself lucky because Ontario is about half planted and we know that in the greater Eastern Midwest Corn Belt it’s less than 20%. Needless to say it’s pretty obvious as we look forward market action over the next couple of weeks will depend on planting progress. Will it be like last year where everybody scrambled and gets the corn planted ending up with the second-largest crop in history? Or is this the year where it all goes awry?
It’s speculative at this point where the market goes. In Ontario there is some conjecture that we were already at import values for corn. Opinions vary because a lot of corn has not come into Ontario but with the Canadian dollar rising from 77 to $.87 over the period of last month some US corn has come into Ontario. It surely has Ontario corn farmers buzzing about something more than the weather.
The true story about corn soybeans and even wheat prices will be playing out over the next month. So let’s leave it for at least a little while until the truer picture is before us. I’m sure the June 30 USDA report will hold some surprises. However I’m sure that report will not hold some of the surprises that we see in our fields across Canada.
I began to think about this earlier today when I saw a report come across my desk, which was prepared for the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association. It was compiled and by people at the George Morris Center in Guelph Ontario and said that damage to Ontario’s farmers crops and livestock in 2007 was $40.92 million. I was taken aback from that figure, however I’ve known for years that farmers have been lobbying government for some type of compensation for this type of crop and livestock damage.
Rewind to last week when I was finishing corn planting. I have a brother-in-law who is an avid hunter and he is schooled me on the nuances of different forms of wildlife and how they behave in Ontario. So now it seems all I see is wild turkeys in my fields just ripe for the taking. I don’t own a gun and am not a hunter so I cannot take advantage of that. However I don’t think wild turkeys cause any damage to my crops unlike deer, which are currently licking their lips in anticipation of a wonderful 200-bushel corn crop to feast on all summer.
It is a difficult quandary for both government and the farm population across Canada. For instance it is one thing for me to have all kinds of crop damage from raccoons, dear and some other varmint, which comes along. However in other parts of Canada what do you do when grizzly bears enjoy the sun in the canola fields of Peace River country in Alberta? What do you do when the same bears travel out from the Southern Alberta Mountains into grazing land near Cardston and Lethbridge Alberta? And closer to home what do you do when black bears wander through your cornfield near the nation’s capital of Ottawa? It’s a difficult problem.
The economic losses quoted in that study are probably conservative in nature. Needless to say, the Ontario soil and Crop Association is looking into ways to implement strategies to establish wildlife damage prevention measures and compensation programs for Ontario farmers. Clearly though, there is a need right across the country.
The hard part would be to strike a balance between agricultural production and the wildlife that lives nearby. I think this is a very difficult thing because of the preponderance of some species. Take for example the number of deer that you seen in Ontario fields. In my opinion there are way too many deer in Ontario. Most of us have a story of either hitting a deer in a car or truck or knowing somebody who has. In more northern areas like near Ottawa it must be endemic. When I drive my combine through the cornfield in the fall there are deer everywhere especially near dusk. In fact it is been so bad it’s like a deer traffic jam.
Its becoming a greater problem society is changing and wildlife certainly has its conservationist friends. That’s fair and I understand that. However I have heard farmers talk about this problem in increasingly frustrating terms. With the increasing costs of planting crops and the tenuous nature of Canadian livestock losing from wildlife damage is increasingly adding up to real money. At a certain point our respective governments need to take this seriously.
Years ago I was on an Australian farm close to the Outback. The farmer was complaining about his sheep dogs because they were getting bit from poisonous snakes and they seemed to be no good anymore. He had the same problem with his cattle except they died. At night I took a 4×4 down the farm lane where thousands of kangaroos jumped fences and mixed it up in front of me as I moved forward. So it’s pretty obvious no matter where you are on this globe wildlife problems are always agriculture’s problem.
Next week I hope to commence soybean planting. It is always an adventure and surely this year with our bullish soybean market it will be more of the same. I only hope I don’t see Mr. Groundhog because he shows up every year and eats about one acre of soybeans. Let’s see, 50-bushel soybeans at $10 equals a $500 loss. Multiply those losses out for yourself and you can see how much this problem is costing everybody.