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Wild animals are estimated to cause billions of losses every year to Swedish forest owners and farmers. At Berga farm in Södermanland, the beast is eaten by dovhjortar. "The Dovhjortarna drift like lawnmowers, they take everything," says farmer Ulf Thunell.
Farmers Elin Beckman and Ulf Thunell tell us how a deer kills their crops. The fields of Berga farm in Södermanland have already transported 60 cows with calves. Now, the bait is enough for almost 40 animals.
The grass has a high hand width, it seems to be cut uniformly all over the field. But here no machine has passed, there are dull dews that keep the grass short.
"Here you can see how they ate, and here, here and here, the whole field here," says Ulf Thunell, who runs the Berga farm with his wife Elin Beckman.
Previously, the couple's fields contained 60 cows with calves. Now, bait is enough for nearly 40 animals.
"Here we should be able to harvest a second crop, but that's not possible," Thunell says.
Last year, the couple began to get tired of it and decided to determine the extent of the losses their farm Berga Husby-Oppunda suffered as a result of game damage to the crops. To compare themselves, they described what they call "protective windows" with stable fences on their fields.
The difference between the grass in the small cage and the field is striking.
"Last year, we had expected 30% losses, but we started a little late and we could not compare with everything we collected.This year, the total is 50%. eaten, says Elin Beckman.
The grass that they grow if the cows eat during the winter. This is a big deal for a small business and if it can not harvest enough, it will be forced in the future to reduce the number of animals.
"In this case, we can no longer work full time on the farm," Thunell says.
Elin Beckman and Ulf Thunell are not the only among Swedish farmers to have a problem with wildlife. No one knows exactly how much loss of value is lost because of the damage caused by game, but the Farmers' Association (LRF) estimates that at least 2 billion crowns are lost each year in agriculture and agriculture. forestry.
This may be a modest estimate. In a study conducted three years ago by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the damage caused to agriculture by wild boar is SEK 1.1 billion per year. But the study says nothing about wildlife, such as deer, goose and elk.
The forestry company Södra skogsägarna has calculated that game wounds in its members amounted to 980 million SEK per year.
"We have then two billion, but it still remains all the north of Sweden," said Anders Wetterin, expert on hunting and wildlife at the LRF.
According to Wetterin, the net worth of Swedish agriculture is between 5 and 7 billion SEK per year.
"If you compare with 1.1 billion losses, that's about 15% on wild boars, and then you realize that our members are pretty sour, which is a big problem," he says.
Behind the anger lies a conflict between hunters and farmers. Many landowners want to have big game stumps themselves, but the animals do not care about the border. For farmers like Elin Beckman and Ulf Thunell, who rent part of their cropland, the problem is even more serious because they can not hunt for the most exposed fields.
"I think everyone who wants wildlife in their forest can enter, otherwise the price to pay for us, farmers," said Ulf Thunell.
Next January, the Forestry Board will present a report on the damage caused by game in forestry. The last available figure dates from 2007, when damage was estimated at at least SEK 500 million per year. Since then, problems with wild boar and deer have increased.
"This is one of the biggest problems in forestry today, it's absolutely great, the government wants to increase forest production, it's considered important, especially from the point of view of the forest. environment, and the damage caused by hunting is a major obstacle, "said Christer Kalén, Skogsstyrelsen Wildlife Expert.
The Hunting Federation is aware of the problem.
"We have a handshake with the logging industry, a letter of intent, and we should have it with agriculture," said Bo Sköld, secretary general of the company. ;Union.
The problem to be solved is the question of how big game strains should be allowed.
"You can start to wonder if the state should not have an idea, for example, of the number of wild boars we should have.Is it reasonable that there is no upper limit for these wildlife species? because of their cost, says Anders Wetterin.
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