MADISON, Wis. — A panel of farmers, conservationists, lawmakers, and hunters is nearing its final recommendations for how the Wisconsin Legislature should address crop damage caused by sandhill cranes.
The Department of Natural Resources estimates that sandhill cranes in Wisconsin cause about $1.6 million in crop damage each year, mostly to corn and potato harvests.
After months of work, a legislative study committee formed around the issue has narrowed its proposed solutions to opening a sandhill crane hunt and reimbursing farmers for the cost of a seed coating that deters cranes from eating their crops.
Committee members on Wednesday debated whether a crane hunt would address crop damage, how a hunt should be regulated, and how much of the cost of chemical repellents the state should cover.
Farmers like committee member Rick Gehrke, of Omro, already pay thousands of dollars each year to coat their corn seeds with Avipel, an organic chemical treatment that repels birds.
Watch: Committee nears final recommendations on sandhill crane hunt in Wisconsin
Specific proposals for a crane hunt range from a crane season similar to existing waterfowl seasons to limiting the hunt only to farmland where crop damage has occurred. If the Legislature establishes a crane hunt, farmers would also gain access to state funds used to reimburse crop damage caused by game animals.
Crane biologist and committee member Anne Lacy, of the International Crane Foundation, said Wednesday that a hunt would do little to address crop damage.
“The fact that we can or cannot hunt them in Wisconsin, I don’t think is a problem for this committee,” she said. “Crop damage is a problem that maybe we can come together and solve.”
A sandhill crane hunt has been proposed twice in the Legislature in recent years — once in 2021 and once in 2011. Both bills didn’t gain enough support to pass.
The study committee has one meeting remaining before finalizing its recommendations for lawmakers to consider in the next legislative session.
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