by PAUL RAYNER

Cattle farmers have been suffering for many years, and do not feel they should be taking on the added burden of feeding wildlife from the Turtle Mountains.

This is the message some are trying to deliver to the province. A bad winter is exacerbating problems with deer and elk getting into cattle feed and there is a need for a different way of dealing with the issue that does not include producers footing increasing feed bills.

“There is too much snow and it is too cold and we are having trouble with deer and elk,” explained Lonnie Graham, who operates a cattle operation with about 160 head south of Boissevain, with bales right by the Lake Max Road. “I have 75-100 deer in my bale stack. They come right into my yard. There is a shortage of hay and it’s expensive. I pay as much as anyone for a deer or elk license and I feed them 365 days a year.”

He said that it costs about 4 cents a pound for feed, but crop insurance, which is paying compensation for the losses, only gives 2 ½ cents. He feels Manitoba Conservation needs to do something to deal with this situation.

“I don’t want to see the deer starve, but this is their resource not ours. This is the government’s livestock. It’s not fair that we should be feeding them.”

Myna Cryderman, who has a cattle operation further to the east and about six miles north of the US border has the same problem, only different. In her case, it is elk.

“Oh, it’s terrible,” Cryderman stated. “At first I had 70 head of elk at my hay stack. There are only 15-20 now. Each of them eats as much as a cow, and I can’t afford that.”

She feels the cold and snowy winter is a serious contributor to the problem this year, as well as the fact there are no real predators in the region. One of the difficulties, Cryderman said, is that the problem does not start with the snowfall. She explained that the elk ate her alfalfa in the summer, for which there was no compensation. This cut down on her own available feed for the winter. Now she is buying feed, and the animals are eating away at that as well.

“The elk are destructive in the summer. They wreck the fences. And they eat my alfalfa. Now they are eating the feed I’m buying. It’s unfair. I don’t know whose problem it is, but the producers are in the middle, because we’re the ones feeding them.”

Like Graham, Cryderman said she is having problems greater than the previous year. Weather plays a role, but she added that sooner or later, the problem would become permanent.

“Once they find a good source of feed,” she explained, “it will not be a problem from year to year.”

According to Dan Chranowski, a regional wildlife manager with Manitoba Conservation, the department’s role in the situation presently is mainly to help them try to keep the wildlife off of their property. For example, he said they offer bangers to scare elk away from the feed, but said that only works with smaller parcels of land. They also offer some advice, like double stacking their straw bales to help keep the animals out of them.

“Our role is to help the landowners,” Chranowski stated. “We offer advice on what they can do to reduce damage, or to deter animals.”

Some feel, however, that more should be done. Cryderman said there is a program by Riding Mountain National Park where producers are paid to build 10 foot high stack yards to help keep elk out. This could be extended to other areas. Chranowski admitted that they have the program in Riding Mountain, but feels this is because the elk have tuberculosis and they do not want them infecting cattle herds.

Graham would like to see the wildlife intercepted.

“My point is that they should take bales out to the bush,” Graham said. “They should intercept them out in the bush so they don’t come to us, or cross the road where they become a problem for Autopac.”

Chranowski said they have done feeding programs in the past. They have involved, however, giving permission for farmers to put out hay. They do not do it themselves or buy the hay.

As for compensation, David Van Deynze of the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation said they handle that end.

“We assess loss and damage to stored hay,” he stated, “go out and assess a district to see what wildlife eat or walk on and pay claims.”

He said the prices paid were different depending on different feed. They also only compensate up to 80% of the amount. As for whether or not the price they paid was half what it costs to buy it, Van Deynze said he was not sure, as he was not sure exactly what the costs were on the open market. It is possible, however.

“It could be that as well. We work on a five-year average, I believe, and we had a poor hay year last year. Hay is hard to transport and it was a bad year for it, so I don’t doubt (there is a discrepancy).”

He added they have rules to follow regarding what compensation they pay, operating under the Wildlife Damage Compensation Regulation Act. Any change will have to come with a change in the act.

Van Deynze said that claim numbers are actually down this year so far. Although this might be surprising, he added that their year-end is in March, so the numbers may be a little misleading, and could very well increase, particularly after the rain and heavy snowfall take full effect.

Cryderman said she would like to see a couple of changes. One would be paying compensation per head of elk present, as well as doing it year round. As well, she would like to see more emphasis on hunting animals in the area. This is particularly true for American hunters.

“It could help us and the area,” she explained. “Over 20 years, the number of hunters has decreased. If Americans were allowed to be involved in big game hunting in Southwest Manitoba, it could deal with the problem, and be a big economic benefit to the area like the goose hunters are.”

Chranowski said hunting could be adjusted if the numbers warrant, but the key is sustainable hunting. There is already hunting in the Turtle Mountains and he said the numbers indicate it is already at a sustainable level. He added there are no American hunters allowed in elk season across the province, as there is too great a demand for residential licenses. He said he is sympathetic to cattle producers in the area, but says they are not alone.

“I certainly understand their point of view”, he stated. “The situation there is probably no different than Spruce Woods, Duck Mountain, Tiger Hills. There are elk that live in those areas and people have the same problems. It is a province wide situation.”

“I think the province wants the elk in here,” Cryderman said, “but I think they need to find a way to compensate the producers. We have had five years of bad times, and then something like this can be the last straw.”