Farmer’s Weekly – 23 August 2019

World News WeeklyneWsWrap

Non-carnivore threat to

livestock examined

EU wheat harvest well advanced

In Brief

ABOVE:

Adopting

methodologies for

reducing human-

wildlife conflict to

non-carnivore

species could

benefit farmers

whose livelihoods

are being

threatened.

FW Archive

As human populations have
expanded, human-wildlife
conflict has increased,
particularly when humans or
their livelihoods are endangered.
New research by Dr Shari
Rodriguez and Dr Christie
Sampson of Clemson University
in South Carolina in the US,
published in the journal PLOS
Biology, examined the threat of
non-carnivores, such as feral
pigs and elephants, to livestock.
In the past, most research on
human-wildlife conflict had
focused on the impact of tigers,
wolves and other predators.
“Our study highlights the
importance of including species
not traditionally considered in the
livestock protection conversation,
and finding similarities in how
the effects of non-Carnivora
species can be addressed through
the same methodologies as
species such as wolves, tigers
or lions,” Rodriguez said.
The research showed that these
species could have a significant
effect on the livelihoods of
farmers by killing young and
small livestock, and damaging

livestock farming infrastructure.

They could also affect local

communities’ perception of

the species, and in the case of

species that were of conservation

concern, such as elephants,

this could potentially reduce

people’s willingness to support

conservation initiatives. “Sharing

experiences across taxa and

adopting methodologies found to

be successful for other [predatory]

species may help us improve

the tools we use to promote

co-existence and conservation

efforts for elephants,” said

Sampson. – Staff reporter

A positive outcome of the
extreme heatwaves experienced
across Western Europe this
summer has been that farmers
across the region have been
able to make rapid progress
with wheat harvesting.
The top four growers, France,
Germany, the UK and Poland,
were expected to harvest
larger crops following the
drought damage suffered to
crops last year. However, it
has been reported that late
rainfall in Germany was
hampering the final stages
of the harvesting process.
The agriculture ministry in
the EU’s largest wheat producer,
France, increased the estimate

for the 2019 soft wheat crop to

a four-year high of 38,2 million

tons, 12% higher than last year.

The French harvest also

showed reasonable wheat

quality, including adequate

protein content of 11% or

above, according to traders.

In the second largest producer,

Germany, it has been reported

that over 85% of wheat had

been harvested, and it was

estimated that the harvest

would amount to between

23 million tons and 23,5 million

tons, a 15% increase on 2018.

The UK had also started to

harvest what was expected

to be its largest wheat crop

since 2015. – Staff reporter

Canada

Fruit crops in the Okanagan

region in British Columbia

have suffered severe

damage following excessive

rainfall this summer.

Some fruit farmers have

reported one of their worst

seasons in 20 years, with

50% to 60% of early crops of

cherries being ‘unpickable’.

However, the country’s ministry

of agriculture confirmed

that it would not be able to

determine the full extent of the

damage before the end of the

season, as more damage was

expected in coming months.

Switzerland

Scientists finalising a UN

Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change (IPCC) report

in Geneva, recently delivered

a stark condemnation of the

damage being done to the

land surface of the planet.

Human activities have led to

the degrading of soils, expanded

deserts, felled forests, driven-out

wildlife, and drained peatlands,

they said. This land abuse

needed to be stopped to avoid

catastrophic climate heating.

Between a quarter and a third

of all greenhouse gas emissions

were now estimated to come

fromlanduse,theyadded.

egypt

Shortages of sweet potatoes

in the US have opened up

a window of opportunity

for exporters in Egypt.

“The shortages in the US have

[resulted in] an unprecedented

demand from European

countries. It’s also had a great

impact on the prices, which just

about tripled,” said Mohamed

Abdallah, owner of Freshious,

an export company. “We

suddenly had to increase our

manpower, and expect to export

about 4 000t of sweet potatoes

this season.” – Staff reporter

23 August 2019 farmer’sweekly 17