Wild boars causing chaos in western Canada

Feb 25, 2016

Destroying crops and scaring cattle

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

As if farmers don’t have enough to worry about heading into spring.

Between the weather, weeds and insects, we have a tough enough time keeping crops safe, but now wild boars are becoming a bigger issue in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The boars, which can weigh over 250 pounds, are eating crops and using grazing land as their own public toilets. Doing so can scare cattle and prevent them from returning to those fields.

The animals can also produce six to 10 piglets per litter and can do so twice a year, making them even more difficult to control.

"They're terrorizing the ranchers," said Brian Keating, wildlife columnist for CBC's The Homestretch, said during a recent appearance on the show. "They're basically mammalian rototillers."

To try and control the problem, a wild boar eradication program has been set up for the area of Moose Mountain.

Keating said farmers, hunters and others will carry out military-style operations when a group of wild boars are found.

The issues with the boars run further than just ruining land and eating crops.

A 2013 study by Ryan Brook, a University of Saskatchewan biologist, outlined different dangers of the boars including the spread of disease.

“There are quite a number of important pig diseases to be really worried about,” he said in an interview with Radio Canada International.

Brook said that if the wild boar population isn’t checked, it could outnumber the provincial human population in about 10 years.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

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