How green my valley?

Looks like it's time to thin the herd...

In the Ministry of Natural Resource’s eyes, the return of elk to the Bancroft area is a success story, born out of the work of environmentalists’ concern for an indigenous species that once disappeared.

But to the agriculture sector, they are a nuisance, causing farmers thousands of dollars in crop damage for which they can’t find compensation.

“Imagine a 500-cow beef herd running loose in the Bancroft area,” he said. “They eat a lot of feed. And the best grazing is on improved pastures and in field crops. You can’t blame the animal, but that happens to be farmer’s livelihood.”

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