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Department of Agriculture reports rising wolf and elk depredation claims; committee hears funding requests
Summary
The Department of Agriculture reported increased wolf and elk damage claims, a growing backlog and recommendations to strengthen claim evaluation and abatement. Producers and farm groups asked the committee for immediate funding to cover unpaid claims.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture told the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee that wolf and elk depredation payments and prevention grants have trended upward, the state faces a backlog of unpaid claims and the department needs both sustained appropriations and clearer links between abatement and compensation.
Mark Abrahamson, plant protection director at the Department of Agriculture, said the department has a long-standing wolf-compensation program and a separate program to compensate crop and fence losses caused by elk. He told the committee that both programs have seen rising payments and that the agency’s appropriations have been exhausted in recent years.
“We have about $20,000 that are on our backlog to pay next fiscal year in July 2026,” Abrahamson…
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