Why doesn't
the government just pay producers for their
losses?
Currently, the legal and regulatory authority to
implement a compensation program does not exist.
A program that pays for livestock losses would
overlook the wildlife damage to buildings,
landscaping; wildlife threats to humans and
endangered species.
According to the National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS), in 2004 livestock
producers lost 224,200 sheep and lambs to
predators nation-wide. NASS estimated the value
of those losses to be $18.3 million.
Confirmation of all losses would require
additional WS staff. This could easily cost an
additional $10 million. These figures are
conservative estimates of the additional funding
that would be required over the current budget.
Compensation also fails to include any
inducement to prevent future losses.
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