In recent years, the damage caused by game in Indre-et-Loire has hardly fluctuated. In any case, this is what Henry Frémont, president of the Chamber of Agriculture of Indre-et-Loire, indicated in December 2023: “It’s been stable for two or three years. In terms of areas destroyed, all crops combined (rapeseed, wheat, sunflower, corn), this represents around 500 hectares. The damage to agriculture is due 50% to wild boars and 50% to deer. »
On the bill side, the federation therefore had to pay the farmers affected by this damage 1.3 million euros, a sum fortunately falling after the peaks reached at the start of the war in Ukraine, which saw prices soar. For the record, a tonne of durum wheat had risen to €300, compared to €190 today. The federation had to spend more than 1.7 million euros and sounded the alarm.
Not all damage is compensated
This year, the damage could be more significant, estimates Quentin Guénault, director of the Indre-et-Loire Hunters' Federation. “It rained a lot and many plots have not yet been picked, particularly corn and sunflowers. So agricultural damage will probably increase. » A climatic reason difficult to counter.
To deal with this situation, hunters have already put in place greater hunting pressure on deer, a measure whose effects are expected this year.
Nicolas Sterlin, market gardener and arborist in Parçay-Meslay, draws attention to the fact that if damage caused by large game to crops is compensated, the same is not true for damage caused by small game. And if he didn't invest in fences and nets, the hares (“it is forbidden to shoot”) would leave none of its green beans, carrots, cabbage… And that’s without mentioning the birds, first and foremost pigeons and crows. “We have enough problems as it is and the devastation is becoming critical. » When he settled in 1995, “there wasn’t all that”.
As a hunter too, he believes that“in Indre-et-Loire, there are hunting defects. Which creates a big problem regulating wild boar and deer populations. » For him, “the Fed gives bracelets that are not made. » And since there are fewer hunters, there are automatically more big game.
However, as Quentin Guénault points out, Indre-et-Loire is one of the good students in France with 80% of bracelets made.
Record samples but insufficient?
One of the most attractive hunting territories in France, Indre-et-Loire posted record harvest levels during the general assembly of hunters on April 6, 2024: 3,900 large deer, 9,000 deer and 9,570 wild boars during the previous hunting season. Pressure maintained without the damage apparently decreasing.
Enough to discourage certain farmers who have decided purely and simply to stop growing corn or sunflowers… because of the damage caused by big game.
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