Wild boars and farming in Sweden - an assessment of the costs

Wild boar is among the most wide spread mammal in the world and is known to cause serious damages for farmers in terms of crop losses and impacts on farm infrastructure. This study estimate farmers’ cost of wild boar in Sweden, and how it is determined by land scape diversity, proxies for wild boar population, land ownership, feeding and protective measures by the farmer. Data are obtained from a survey of 3200 farmers, and the results indicate an average annual cost of SEK 28843/farm or SEK 305/ha, of which 62% arises from crop losses and 28% from adjustment and protection costs. However, 60% of the farmers reported no damage cost, and we therefore examined the determinants of the probability of damage cost and, when it occurs, the size. It was found that proxies of wild boar abundance and land scape diversity have significant and positive impact on the likelihood and magnitude of costs. Diversity in the landscape gives access to hiding opportunities for the pigs when searching for food in the agricultural fields. Share of area with forage, rented land, arable land, and protective measures all showed significant and positive effects on the size of the damage cost.