Canadian sheep farmers who deal with threats from predators on a daily basis should take a little solace in the comfort that they´re not alone. Slovenian sheep and goat producers face the same challenges and, like in so many other sectors of European Union agriculture, rely heavily on subsidies to help them deal with these challenges.

Today delegates to the 2008 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists´ Congress met Boris Grabijan, president of the Slovenian sheep and goat breeders´association. There are 2,000 sheep breeders in his association which is volunteer-run.

Grabijan explained issues related to predation control and noted that farmers often struggle to balance the need to farm with that of protecting wildlife. In actual fact, 35% of the country exists under some enhanced level of environmental protection.

In Slovenia, 61% of the country is forested which provides lots of room for brown bears, lynx, wolves, bob cats and more to hide in.  Last year, farmers claimed more than 355,000 Euros worth of predation kills to their livestock; the majority of that to sheep and goats but also to fishery stock, bee hives and wild animal damage to silage and other crops.

Their predation compensation system is complicated. If damage is done by an animal that is hunted, like a deer, then the hunter and angler organizations in this country must cover the insurance costs paid to farmers. If damage is done by a protected animal like a brown bear, then it becomes the responsibility of the state and the government pays the damages.

Slovenia is a tiny but beautiful country that starts with the Alps in the north and heads south to the Adriatic Sea. Like so many countries, it has an aging farming population. The country has become so heavily forested because many farmers have given up farming and left the land to move into town. The average age of a farmer in Slovenia is now 56.9.

Kelly Daynard is the Program Manager for the Ontario Farm Animal Council. Her trip to the IFAJ was sponsored by Monsanto and the Canadian Farm Writers´ Federation.