Keystone Agricultural Producers charted new directions for its lobby efforts this year.
Members voted to press Manitoba Conservation to compensate farmers for feed supplies lost to wildlife.
Crop insurance covers wildlife damage to hay supplies that are produced by the end-user, but it doesn’t cover farmers like Kathleen Paterson of Deloraine, Man., who buys hay for her cattle and horses.
Paterson told KAP’s annual meeting she chases a herd of more than 200 deer from her hay pile every morning. She must stand guard while her livestock eat; otherwise the deer will return and chase away livestock.
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High costs keep her from fencing off her farm from the deer.
Albert Hamilton of Glenboro, Man., said a feedlot owner in his area has to deal with 80 elk climbing on his chopped hay.
Bangers and other scare tactics provided by the conservation department only work for a short time, Hamilton said, until the elk get used to the noises.
Ian Wishart of Portage la Prairie, Man., said the conservation department has cut back on an intercept feeding program since farmers started getting compensation for wildlife damage.
He said it’s time for KAP to remind the department of its responsibility for wildlife.
KAP members also voted to lobby the federal government to amend its endangered species legislation to fully compensate landowners.
Wes Froese of Boissevain, Man., said proposed compensation for producers who have an endangered species on a quarter section of land would see the farmer donate the first 16 acres of habitat, then receive only half the value of the next 144 acres.
The group also voted to lobby the province to keep funding a woodlot program run by the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corp. The program helps farmers plan, plant and harvest trees on farmland in an environmentally friendly way.
