Wild boar damage decrease but still cause most of the damage

Wild boar caused about half of the total losses by wildlife on cereal-crops in 2014 and 2020. In 2023, the total damage caused by wild boar decreased but was still the biggest contributor with about a third of the total losses. On a national level, wild boar destroyed 47 800 tonnes of cereal in 2023. It is a decrease by 44 percent compared to 2020 and an increase by 12 percent compared to 2014. In production of potatoes and temporary grasslands, wild boar caused over 60 percent of the total losses, as in 2014 and 2020.

Damage by fallow deer and geese increase

Damage caused by fallow deer increased by a third to 37 900 tonnes of cereal destroyed in 2023. Geese destroyed 25 300 tonnes of cereal in 2023, which is an increase by 54 percent compared to 2020. In rape- and turnipseed production, fallow deer and geese contributed to 25 percent each of the total damage in 2023.

Harvest damage varies greatly

For the whole Country, crop losses due to wildlife damage amounted to between 0.1 and 6.2 percent of the total harvest per crop. As in previous surveys, there were large variations both geographically and among crops. Around 37 percent of the farmers that produce cereals, dried pulses and oilseeds had wildlife damage in at least one crop, which is a decrease by 17 percentage units compared to 2020. Many famers had no wildlife damage at all, while over 1 percent reported that more than one-half of the harvest was destroyed by wildlife.

Particularly great wildlife damage in Södermanland County

In Södermanland County the wildlife damage was, as in 2020, particularly great. Crop losses in this County amounted to 11 percent for cereals and 18 percent for peas, the highest amounts in the whole Country. The wildlife damage in rape and turnip were also great with 10 percent, only surpassed by Blekinge County with 13 percent wildlife damage.

Wild boar still affects the type of crop grown the most

Wild boar is still the animal that affects farmers the most to not produce certain crops at all. Fallow deer is the second most common cause, followed by moose and geese. Many farmers are reporting that cereal crops cannot be harvested when fully mature mainly due to wild boar. For autumn sown crops such as winter wheat and winter rape, many farmers are reporting increasing problems with geese and fallow deer.

Previous publications

Information about damage caused by wildlife has been collected for the whole Country twice before, in 2014 and 2020. The results are presented in the Swedish Board of Agriculture database and in statistical reports. The statistics are based on information from farmers who submitted information on wildlife damage in connection with the data collection on the year’s harvests for various crops.

Viltskador i lantbruksgrödor 2023 (Swedish) (Jordbruksverket.se)