Wildlife damaging farmers’ crops is nothing new in Wisconsin, but there is help available to those affected by deer, bears, wolves, geese and other waterfowl.
A dozen Shawano County farmers enrolled in the 2025 Wildlife Damage, Abatement and Claims Program, said Blake Schuebel, a county land conservation technician.
“Enrollees are limited to a single claim on an annual basis,” Schuebel said. “Damage must be reported within two weeks of when it starts, and the enrollee must follow abatement measures prescribed by the county damage specialist. This can include shooting permits, temporary abatement measures and can include permanent fences.”
Compensation is capped at $10,000, and any claim has a $500 deductible.
Of the dozen participating farmers, one enrolled for a claim, while the other 11 enrolled just for a shooting permit. All cited cited deer damage, Schuebel said.
On Dec. 4, the Shawano County Land Conservation Committee set prices for reimbursement for corn and hay damage.
Corn was set at $3.90 a bushel and hay at $145 a ton. The committee will act on the claim at its January meeting.
Schuebel said a combination of state averages calculated by UW-Extension and prices at local grain elevators for December were used to determine the prices.
“The claims are submitted to the DNR and paid directly to the enrollee,” he said. “If there are abatement measure taken, usually the farmer purchases the materials and the county pays them once the abatement is installed. Then the county gets reimbursed from the DNR at the end of the year.”
Schuebel said the DNR has been offering compensation since 1931 on deer damage. Black bears were added in 1939, and sandhill cranes and waterfowl were added to the program in 1964. The program also covers turkey, elk and wolves.
“I am not sure exactly the year that Shawano County has been administering the program for the DNR, but I have seen paperwork in old files from the early 1980s,” he said.
For more information on the program, use the keywords “wildlife damage” when visiting the DNR webpage at dnr.wi.gov.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
